


Despair, Yours

by Mice



Series: Sea Change [8]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Canon Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Pirates, Things go BOOM, implied Kelsey Steelspark/John J. Keeshan, shaw feels, the boss drops a mount, the crew of the Bold Arva - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:53:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mice/pseuds/Mice
Summary: Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.-- Mary Oliver, Wild GeeseTheBold Arvais taken by pirates and her crew held for ransom. Mathias Shaw is Not Happy.
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Series: Sea Change [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875685
Comments: 94
Kudos: 76





	1. The Hourglass

**Author's Note:**

> With my thanks to JaguarMirror for her voracious beta reading

It was another salvage job. Flynn thanked his luck yet again that Madam Goya had paid to have the gear installed on the _Bold Arva_ , because it was their third salvage contract in the past two months, and they tended to turn a tidy profit. They lay sea-anchored over the deeps off Thousand Needles.

The deeper the prize, the more dangerous, but the more they could ask for their commission. This one had paid very, very well. The waters off Kalimdor since the burning of Teldrassil were much more patrolled by Horde vessels, so being there was a bit of a risk, but the _Arva_ wasn't going to try going ashore anywhere except Gadgetzan to get more water; the port was still neutral, Noggenfogger wasn't a bad sort, and Grixx was an old friend of his so they got a 'slight discount' on their docking fees.

Their job was a kaldorei ship that had gone down in a storm. Among its cargo were some valuable heirlooms that the family of the captain had wanted back. After the destruction of Teldrassil, who could blame them? Too many of the kaldorei had nothing left but their memories now.

The work was going smoothly. Relly and Grixx had become dive experts and were handling even the most difficult aspects of the deep dives with confidence; Sparks kept the air pump and dive gear in top shape. They'd been at anchor here for two days, and had another yet to go. The depth of the sea floor here meant everything took longer to accomplish, and bringing up the salvage was more difficult.

Flynn was looking forward to getting back to Stormwind. The _Arva_ had been at sea for much of the time since Mathias's holiday and he missed the man dearly. He was off duty and had just woken up before the evening watch; he sat against the railing of the foredeck as he watched gulls play in the air around the rigging.

Billie Nets came running up with a mug and handed it to him. "Mister Finebrew said you'd be wanting this Captain."

Coffee. The savior of sailors everywhere. He took it gratefully. "Thanks, Monkey. It's just what I needed." He took a slow, savoring slurp. Mmm, just enough sugar to be pleasant, not enough to be cloying. "It's good." He smiled at her.

"Dinner's at the next bell, just before watch change," she said. She'd adjusted well to life at sea, and had settled into her new home in Ironforge with Thurin Firebeard and his family. He was glad she'd finally found some stability. Sonya was teaching her letters and numbers now, in addition to all the knots and rigging and other details of life asea, and the kid was insatiably curious about everything. Thurin, as promised, had seen that she got weapons and some fighting lessons from the warrior's guild in Ironforge.

"What's for dinner?" he asked. He _was_ getting a little hungry.

She poked at a coil of rope with one foot. "Mogu fish stew, and there's mango sticky rice for afters." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like mogu fish stew."

Flynn sighed. "Well, you could always have hardtack and jerky, Monkey."

She glowered. "That's even worse."

"Then eat your dinner like everyone else, and smother the taste in the mango sticky rice afterwards. I know you like that." 

"But that's _good_. It's all fruity and sticky and sweet." She flumped to the deck next to him, elbows on her knees.

"Nobody likes everything, Monkey. We're at sea, and we eat what the cook makes for us. He's really good at it, and we're lucky to have him. I've sailed on lots of ships where the food was awful." That sort of thing could precipitate a mutiny, frankly, though he wasn't going to go giving the kid any ideas.

She gave him a disbelieving look. "What's worse than mogu fish stew?"

"Aside from hardtack and jerky? Split pea soup that's mostly water," he said, his voice flat. Flynn shuddered. The memory haunted him to this day. _Lukey's rollin' out his grub, one split pea in a ten pound tub,_ he thought. Some songs just hit too close to home.

Her nose wrinkled. "Ewwwww."

"Exactly." He elbowed her shoulder. "You have work to do, so you'd best get back to it."

She huffed and got to her feet, grumbling, "Aye aye, sir," and hurried off to whatever Yun had her on now.

Sparks, Relly, and Grixx were cleaning up after the final dive of the day on the main deck, and the sun lowered over Kalimdor in the west. Flynn finished his coffee and went to go help Johnny and Siward secure the salvaged crates in the hold.

***

Two days of shore leave in Gadgetzan was just what everyone needed after a long week of backbreaking work on the dives. Flynn wasn't particularly fond of deserts, but the drinks were excellent, and the fights in the Thunderdrome were always exciting.

Gadgetzan was filled with heroes and adventurers looking for a day job, or passing from place to place, though you did have to keep your eyes on your pockets and belt pouches. Half the crew spent the first night cheering at the Thunderdrome, while Harmen and Siward decided they'd give it a go and got themselves into a match with a pair of orcs. All four of them eventually staggered out of the arena bruised and battered, but they ended up drinking together by the end of the night.

Flynn decided to have dinner at the Road Warrior Inn that evening, among the crowd of people from all over Azeroth. Goblins had their moments and, he had to admit, Gadgetzan was good at bringing people together and getting them to bond over face punching and booze. The mutton chops at the Road Warrior weren't too bad, either, and a welcome respite from all the fish they tended to eat at sea.

" _Well,_ if it isn't one of my favorite redheads," a warm voice purred in Flynn's ear.

Flynn snorted, recognizing the voice. "Marcus, you old dog." He looked up and waved a hand at the chair next to him, inviting the Paladin to sit with him. "How have you been doing? Or should I ask _who_ you've been doing?"

Marcus laughed. "I find myself at loose ends tonight. Interested in running up the pennants and seeing who salutes?" He waggled his eyebrows and grinned a rather fetching grin.

It wasn't going to fetch Flynn, not this time. "A year ago, lad, I'd have said yes, but I have a matelot now and I'm quite happy with him, thanks." He grinned back at the man. "I'll stand you a drink, though."

"I'd be delighted. Care for a contest of wills?"

Flynn flagged down a barmaid. "Something for my friend, here."

"Oh, my dear," Marcus said, turning his charm on the goblin lass. "I'd love a dark lager if you have one."

"Comin' right up, cutie." She trotted off to the bar.

"Marcus, you forget, I'm Kul Tiran. I will drink you under the table without breaking a sweat."

Marcus laughed. "It's a very low table, Fairwind, but I'll see you under it!"

"You're on!"

The draenei in the seat next to Flynn said, "You are going to have a drinking contest?"

The goblin came back and slapped the dark lager on the table in front of Marcus. "That we are, my fine, horny friend," Marcus said. Flynn paid the goblin.

"It seems there should be a wager if it's to be a proper contest," the draenei said, giving them a crooked smile. He turned and shouted to the room. "Drinking contest! Place your bets!" He looked over at them as a crowd started to gather. "Who are you again?"

"Flynn Fairwind."

"Marcus the Paladin, and I shall surely prevail!"

"Place your bets!" the draenei shouted. "Flynn Fairwind versus Marcus the Paladin! Who shall win? Who shall lose? Humans have no tolerance for alcohol!"

"Hey," Fizzgrimble, the innkeeper, shouted from behind the bar, "if there's betting, the house gets a cut! Them's the rules!" The crowd was chattering and money started changing hands.

"Of course, of course, little man," the draenei said. "I am Joluun, and we shall pay your cut once the contest is done."

"The big guy's a Kul Tiran," one goblin muttered. "He's gonna slay that Paladin."

"If we're going to do this, the winner gets a third of the purse," Flynn said, "and the bookie--" he slapped Joluun on the shoulder "--buys the booze!"

Jolunn nodded sharply. "You have a deal, my fine Kul Tiran friend!"

Flynn poked Marcus in the chest with one finger. "You are going to be _so_ hung over tomorrow morning. And none of that Paladin purging stuff for this. No extra blessings, no purifications, no magic -- it's just you and me and may the strongest constitution win."

Marcus reached out a hand and they shook. "You have my word, Fairwind. Since you've already finished that one, I'll down this, and we'll get started."

"Fair enough," Flynn said, as the Paladin drained his dark lager.

"Set them up!" Joluun shouted, as the crowd began to murmur and more bets were taken.

Fizzgrimble brought over a tray with a couple of dozen shots of gods only knew what. Flynn could see that they were pairs of the same thing, so neither of them would be particularly at an advantage. "Here ya go boys, and may the strongest sucker win!"

Marcus and Flynn each reached for a shot. The first one was something clear and sharp-smelling. They looked at each other over the shot glasses, tapped them together, and knocked them back, slapping the empty glasses down on the table. The crowd cheered. "That's number one!" Jolunn cried.

"Smooth," Flynn said, smirking. 

Marcus smirked back. "We'll see what you have to say when we're at number five."

"A walk in the park."

The shouts and cheers from the bettors drew more people into the Road Warrior, and most of them ordered drinks for themselves while they watched.

By the sixth shot, Flynn was feeling a bit fuzzy. Marcus's eyes were bloodshot and he was wobbling slightly in his seat. The cheers and shouts of _drink! drink! drink!_ rose and filled the inn.

The bar was swimming as Flynn pounded back number ten. Marcus was fiercely determined but swaying in his seat. Flynn could see Thurin across the room, though he was seriously fuzzy and Flynn wasn't certain why he was so happy to see the man.

Oh, right, Priest. Flynn's personal portable hangover removal device for after the contest. 

At shot number twelve, Flynn was swaying like a mainmast in a tempest, but Marcus had commenced to sliding down his chair with all the grace of a particularly lazy muculent ooze. Cheers erupted at Flynn's brilliant win and Joluun handed Flynn a rather substantial bag of coins before paying out bets and giving Fizzgrimble his cut. Flynn staggered over to Thurin, who leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed, tapping one foot rather stridently at him.

"That? Was brilliant," Flynn slurred. "Wasn't it brilliant?" He thumped into the wall next to Thurin and looked down at him. Thurin wavered. Or maybe that was Flynn's vision. "Could you, maybe, magic me up less of a hangover for tomorrow?" He hiccuped.

"You're setting a very poor example for Billie, Flynn." Thurin glowered. "And I'll take some of that hangover off of you, but I am _not_ your personal hangover dispelling device, laddie. What in blazes were you thinking, anyway?"

"Well, it was Marcus," Flynn said. "I wasn't gonna fuck him, but he's my buddy. And he's _hic_ in my favorite novels. Drinking him under the table was by faaaaar the best option. That's what friends do!" Flynn sagged down the wall.

Thurin sighed a passive-aggressively annoyed sigh and put his hands on either side of Flynn's head. There was a warm flash of light and Flynn was suddenly orders of magnitude more sober than he had been. "That should do it," the dwarf grumped.

Flynn got himself upright. "Well, you didn't have to neutralize _quite_ that much of the booze."

"You'll thank me tomorrow. Best you get back to the ship." Thurin poked him.

"Right, right. Back to the _Arva_. Duty calls."

*** 

By their third day out from Gadgetzan, the weather had taken a turn. Squalls blew in, and high seas. Bess Tidewalker kept the _Arva_ steady, and they tacked into the wind as they sailed for the sea lane between Pandaria and Zandalar. The currents were with them, but at this time of year the winds tended to be contrary, so the trip home would be slower than their trip out. It was still better than trying to take the northern route up the coast of Kalimdor then round the Maelstrom.

Their Tidesage would need rest soon. With the weather as it was, they'd be at least an extra two days at sea to Stormwind. Flynn didn't like it, but you couldn't argue with the ocean, not even with a top notch Tidesage on board. He pulled his greatcoat tighter around him, wanting to ward off some of the rain. On a clear day, they'd be about ten hours out from Isle of Thunder, but right now, it was more like fourteen, and getting longer.

Harmen called down from the crow's nest. "Ship ahoy!"

They were in the trade lanes, so it wasn't unusual to see other ships as they sailed. "What's she flying?" Flynn shouted.

"Can't tell in this weather, Cap'n. She's big, though. Zandalari by the looks of her. Ahead and over to port!"

Oh, wonderful. Was she Pandaria Zandalari or Zandalar Zandalari? Could make the difference between a peaceful passing between ships in armistice, or an attack. 

"Helm a-starboard!" Flynn shouted to the crew on deck, and they hurried to adjust the sails. Best to avoid the ship altogether if they could, and make the point moot. He turned the wheel; he'd give her five degrees, which should be enough to stay distant unless she decided the _Arva_ was prey.

Fifteen minutes later, Harmen shouted, "She's making for us, Cap'n."

"Tides take it," Flynn grumbled. He needed to see for himself. "First Mate, take the helm!" Sonya looked up from where she was helping to lash down a line. "Aye, Cap'n, be right there!"

She came and took the helm and Flynn climbed up to the crow's nest himself, the wind whipping his coat around his legs, his ponytail flapping. Harmen pointed toward the pursuing ship, and Flynn unlimbered his spyglass, leaning on the barrel of the crow's nest as he found her and focused. 

What he saw made his heart skip. She was flying a black flag; a white fox skull faced to the side and in its jaws was an hourglass. "Neptulon's tentacles."

"What have we got?" Harmen asked.

"Pirates. They're flying the colors of the vulpera Captain Hayaji; that ship is the _Despair_. He's flying the hourglass, though. If we surrender, he'll give quarter. We might yet walk away from this."

"Shit," Harmen muttered.

"That's about the size of it." Flynn closed the spyglass, stuffed it back in his belt pouch, and slid down the rigging. "Strike the colors!" he shouted.

Everyone on deck looked at him, then Johnny ran for the line that ran the flag up and down the mainmast.

"What's going on?" Sonya asked, as Flynn ran back up the stairs to the quarterdeck.

"All hands on deck!" Flynn shouted. "All hands, right now!"

Sparks blew all hands and within a few minutes, everyone was assembled. Grixx and Relly were both pulling coats on and Billie was rubbing sleep from her eyes. Everyone looked anxious.

"There's a pirate ship pursuing us," Flynn said. "The wind's against us; she has the wind, and even if Bess were completely fresh, we'd not be able to outrun her at the edge of this squall. We've struck the colors and we are going to surrender. The ship belongs to Hayaji, and he's flying the hourglass, so we'll be taken prisoner and most likely ransomed. There is _nothing_ on this ship that is worth a single one of your lives. When they board us, you will all cooperate. At the end of this whole mess, I intend to see every single one of you ashore in Stormwind again, with or without the _Bold Arva_. Is that clear?"

"Aye aye," everyone answered.

"Now, heave us to. Reef the sails and drop the sea anchor. If they think we're running we're going to end up with those thirty-six pounder cannonballs shattering our hull, and none of us gets out of this alive."

Everyone snapped to follow his orders. Hayaji's ship was big and of Zandalari make, with four thirty-six pounders on either side. If the _Arva_ were a Kul Tiran Man-o-War they could have taken her in a hard-fought battle, but they weren't. She was just a little merchant trader with four tiny six pounder guns that would hardly dent a ship of that size. They hadn't a hope in the abyss of surviving a fight with Hayaji's vessel.

It was twenty minutes before the _Despair_ came alongside, towering over the _Arva's_ decks. Two dozen of her crew swarmed down to meet Flynn and his own people, who stood on the deck, unarmed.

A goblin and a big Zandalari troll with tusks as long as Flynn's arm approached them. "Which one a you is the Captain?" the goblin asked.

The troll nodded toward Thurin Firebeard. "Dat one be a priest. We don't want no interference." He nodded and an orc smacked Thurin in the head, dropping him to the deck, unconscious. 

"Papa Thurin!" Billie shouted. She started for the orc with murder in her eyes but Flynn grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back, shrieking and flailing, against his chest.

"Stand down, Monkey!" he shouted, gripping her little body to him, tight in his arms. 

It took a moment, but she stopped struggling. She didn't stop crying and screaming at the orc, threatening dire damage she'd never be able to deliver. Flynn turned and handed her to his First Mate. "Sonya, take her."

"Aye aye." The worgen picked up the kid and held her, trying to hush her.

Flynn turned to the pirates and stepped forward. "I'm the Captain, and we've surrendered. Why did you hurt one of my crew?"

"Don't want no Priest ta be mind controllin' nobody," the troll said.

"He's my crew, and my responsibility. I'll vouch for his behavior. If he does anything, it's on me, but leave him alone. The girl's his daughter."

The pirates all laughed. "A dwarf wit' a human kid," the goblin sneered. "Tell it to the Captain."

"I will," Flynn said.

They were all transferred to the pirate ship, and Flynn watched as his crew was taken below, presumably to the brig, where they'd be held. He was taken to the Captain's quarters, his hands bound behind him. He held his head high and his shoulders straight. Flynn understood this bit, he'd done it before from the other end; he knew the negotiations that were about to take place and would do everything he could to safeguard the lives of his crew.

Flynn was soaked and dripping from the rain when he was marched into the cabin. Hayaji, the vulpera, was accompanied by a Zandalari troll Druid, in her strange, reptilian moonkin form. She leaned against the captain's desk, arms crossed over her scaly chest. "Who have we here?" Hayaji said.

"Captain Flynn Fairwind," Flynn responded, "of the _Bold Arva_ , a trader out of Stormwind."

The Druid stood at that. She paced to Flynn and took his chin in one leathery hand. "Oh, Cap'n, we got a real prize here."

Hayaji's russet head tilted and he looked at the Druid. "Talk to me, Apu'jin."

The troll laughed. She turned Flynn's head to one side and then the other. "Dis?" She looked back at Hayaji and let go of Flynn's chin. "Dis be de matelot of Mathias Shaw."

"Shaw?" Hayaji's eyes narrowed and he spat. "Alliance dog." Flynn said nothing, his heart thundering in his chest.

"Dog he might be, but wit dis crew for ransom? We could retire, my friend. We could get gold beyon' your dreams. Shaw'll pay to get his boy back, and dat means we got de whole Alliance treasury we can raid."

Hayaji's furry brow rose. "Oh, that does sound good."

"Your crew hurt my ship's healer," Flynn said. "I'd like to request that it not happen again." He was in no position to make demands, but a request might be heard.

Hayaji looked at him. "A Priest?" Flynn nodded. "Standard procedure, knock them out."

"I'll stand in his stead. If he does anything, it's me you deal with. You have my word, he won't fight you. I've already told the crew to cooperate with your orders in the hope of all of us seeing home again. He's got a kid aboard ship, our Cabin Monkey, and a wife and three other kids at home as well."

"I saw the kid, Cap'n," the goblin said. "She's human, the Priest's a dwarf. He's full of it."

Flynn shook his head. "No, she's an orphan. He and his family adopted her. They'll be waiting at home for him. Do you have anyone at home, Hayaji?"

The vulpera snorted. "So you know my name. I had a family in Vol'dun, until the Alliance invaded. They killed every single one of them. But your point is taken. I'd rather not do that to someone else if I can avoid it." 

Flynn nodded. "Thank you."

Hayaji looked at the goblin. "Untie him, Mister Bezzek."

The goblin looked up. "What if--"

"He's outnumbered, unarmed, soaked to the bone, and he's given me his word he'll cooperate. Untie him."

"Aye, Cap'n." The goblin tugged at the knots and Flynn massaged his wrists when they were free.

Hayaji gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Sit." Flynn slouched into the chair and waited. "You can leave, Mister Bezzek. The First Mate and I can handle it from here."

The goblin nodded and left, slamming the door behind him.

Hayaji looked Flynn up and down with a critical eye. Flynn dripped water all over his floor, chilled and miserable. "You may well be the most valuable prize I've ever taken."

Flynn shrugged. "I should warn you that even if Mathias pays -- and there's no guarantee of that -- he'll want revenge. He's not a forgiving man."

"Threats?" Hayaji asked, with a laugh.

"No." Flynn shook his head. "But I know him. He'll be angry. Cold. He's going to want you dead, with all the ice of Northrend in his heart. All I'm saying is, watch your back when you deal with him. If you take the Alliance's gold for me and my crew, it'll be in your best interest to disappear, completely, as fast as you can after you take payment."

The Druid nodded. "He's probably right, ya know. Shaw ain't gonna like dis. But de gold? Ohhh, de gold. It be worth the risk."

Hayaji leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. His little pink tongue flicked out and licked his muzzle. "So, Captain Fairwind, I'm not particularly eager to deal in body parts. What can I send your matelot that will convince him I have you? What token do you have from him that he'll recognize without fail? A ring?" He eyed the little gold necklace with the scallop shell disc dangling at Flynn's throat. He pointed. "That chain?"

Flynn shook his head. He reached into his pocket, heart aching. "No. You send him this." He drew out his compass, flipping it open for one last look. The little folded grass heart was still firmly secured to the cover with the tiny cord of his own hair. He closed it again and set it gently on Hayaji's desk. "Exactly as it is. He'll know. It'll kill him to see it, but he'll know."

Hayaji picked it up and flipped it open, staring at it for a moment. He looked at Flynn and nodded, then snapped it closed again and put it in his own pocket. Flynn's heart cracked. "The compass, then. With a little knotted heart inside. Seems awfully sentimental for a man like Shaw."

"The sentiment's all mine, I'm afraid," Flynn murmured.

Hayaji leaned forward and braced his elbows on his desk, folding his fingers together. "Here's how it's going to go, Captain Fairwind. You and your crew will be my 'guests' in our brig. I think we can get enough out of your people to warrant letting you and your vessel go, if the ransom is paid, otherwise you'll all be marooned on a rock somewhere and left to your fate. It'll take me a couple of days to get the ransom demand delivered, but Shaw will have two weeks to come up with it and meet my agent in Anyport, in Drustvar. Once he meets the agent, they'll sail out to meet us. They'll give us the ransom. We will turn you and your ship over to him and you'll be free to go." He shrugged one shoulder at his First Mate. "Apu'jin and I retire, and somebody else buys this tub from me. We disappear. Everybody's happy. Except Shaw, but I don't care about his happiness. He should be grateful that I'll return you in one piece."

Flynn doubted it was going to go exactly that well, but he wasn't going to argue. He nodded.

"If you or your crew fight us, if you step out of line, there _will_ be consequences. I'm not a cruel vulpera, but I will have discipline. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly," Flynn said. "My crew will be the absolute picture of cooperation. You have my word."

"Apu'jin, have Bezzek take him down to the brig to join his crew. See that they're fed and have adequate blankets for the nights."

"Aye, Cap'n," Apu'jin said. She looked at Flynn. "Come wit' me."


	2. The Price

After Flynn was divested of everything of value on his person, he was escorted down to the brig. There wasn't much of it, just some bunks attached to the wall, a couple of buckets in the corner for people to do their business in, and some empty space.

Thurin was sitting on the floor, his head bloodied, with Billie curled up in his arms. The rest of the crew sat on bunks or paced the cell. Flynn was shoved in with the rest of them and the bars clanged shut behind him.

"Cap'n, are you all right?" Sonya asked, standing and striding over to him. She put one furry hand on his shoulder.

"Unharmed," he assured her. He leaned against the bars, his arms crossed. "They know who I am and they think they're going to get some kind of huge price because of it. They said if Mathias paid, we'd all be released, and the _Arva_ with us, but we'd otherwise be marooned." Flynn sighed and hung his head. "So we'd all best prepare to be stuck on some rock somewhere until we're found."

"You don't think he'd pay?" Harmen asked.

Flynn looked up at him and snorted. "If he paid and there were no consequences for it? The _Arva_ would be fair game to anyone with a mind for some coin, and you know it. I'd never be able to go to sea again. Tides, he'd never let me outside the flat. We won't even talk about how it would ruin him, personally. He'd be a joke -- the great Spymaster, brought to his knees over some Kul Tiran trader. Anybody who wanted to manipulate him would only have to take a potshot at me. There's no way he'll cooperate." Flynn sighed. "And even if he wanted to, it's not like the King is going to let him. Ransom us to the Alliance? You're addled, Harmen."

Sonya nodded. "He's right. We're one ship. If this pirate thinks he's going to get enough to buy us _and_ the _Arva_ back, he's insane."

The crew muttered among themselves, despondent. Flynn stalked over to an empty bunk and flopped down on it. "Hayaji's demand'll be delivered in a few days, and then he's giving Mathias two weeks to come up with the gold. We'll be here for a while, folks. Best get comfy and keep it together as well as you can."

***

The envelope was far more innocuous than it should have been. Mathias didn't recognize the handwriting and the wax bore no seal. He didn't usually get personal mail so, after he'd checked it for potential traps and poisons, he sat at the table and opened it before he changed into civilian clothes for the evening.

He unfolded the single sheet of paper inside to read it and his heart stopped.

_Mathias Shaw_

_I have something that I believe is yours. I can furnish proof._

_In my possession are the following individuals:_

_Captain Flynn Fairwind_  
_First Mate Sonya Miller_  
_Tidesage Elizabeth Tidewalker_  
_Sibbley Turnsprocket_  
_Thurin Firebeard_  
_Yun Finebrew_  
_Harmen Brentley_  
_Siward Brentley_  
_Johnathan Selden_  
_Grixx Wheedleboil_  
_Relly Cogbinder_  
_Billie Nets_

_Should you wish confirmation and instructions on receiving them again, unharmed, my agent will meet you at Anyport in Drustvar at the first instant you are able to appear._

_Captain Hayaji of the Despair_

Mathias stared at the letter, his heart in tatters. Flynn wasn't due back in Stormwind for at least another three days, possibly more if the weather was foul. It could be a trap, but he had to _know_. He dreaded the cost that this Hayaji might ask and knew, at the same time, that there could be no payment. Allowing anyone to take Flynn and demand a price from Mathias would send a message that could never be sent. Their lives would be ended. The only answer after that would be to take Flynn and vanish. To walk away from everything.

He got up, shaken but determined, and wrapped his heart in a layer of steel.

When he got to SI:7, he called for Renzik, who followed him up to his office with a worried look on his face.

"What happened?" Renzik asked. "You look like you've been shot." Mathias handed him the letter. Renzik read, his eyes widening as they skimmed down the page. He looked up at Mathias, a slightly paler shade of green than usual. "This is bad."

"I want anything we have on this Hayaji, and the _Despair_. I want it on my desk by midnight." The only thing Mathias let himself feel was cold fury.

Renzik nodded. "You got it. I take it you're going to Anyport."

"Tomorrow, after I've read what we have. Get Kelsey Steelspark here. I'll take her with me."

"She'll be decent backup. Good choice."

***

The reports didn't have much information. Hayaji was a vulpera, apparently unaffiliated with the group led by Kiro, and therefore also unaffiliated with the Horde. If he had been, that might have made things easier, as Mathias could have requested Anduin's intervention through political negotiation. Bloodhoof might have been willing to put pressure on them on Anduin's behalf, and on his own. He was fairly certain that Bloodhoof rescuing Flynn would satisfy the tauren's sense of blood debt to him.

The _Despair_ was a large vessel of Zandalari make, and well armed. Given that Hayaji's letter stated the entire crew was present and unharmed, Mathias assumed that Flynn had, wisely, chosen to surrender in hope of buying time. There would have been no way that a small trader like the _Arva_ could have fought, though he'd imagined she should have easily been able to outrun a ship as bulky as a Zandalari vessel of that class. Kul Tiran ships were fast and there was little that could match them when the way was clear. There must have been some mitigating circumstance. 

He looked over a stack of blueprints of similar ships. The _Arva's_ crew would be held in the brig on the lowest deck, away from any chance of escape. With a crew complement of over a hundred, the _Despair_ likely had flying mounts aboard, as well, complicating everything.

The bad news about not much being known about Hayaji and his crew was that it would be difficult to create an effective strategy with so little information. The good news was that the captain and crew of the _Despair_ weren't known for cruelty, slaving, or the outright murder of prisoners the way Sweete and his Irontide had been. There was wiggle room here, Mathias just had to find it.

He looked up as the door opened. "Master Shaw." Kelsey Steelspark entered, accompanied by Renzik.

"Steelspark. Renzik."

"What's the assignment, sir?" Steelspark asked, standing before his desk with her hands folded behind her back. She was dressed in her leathers, armed, and wore goggles tilted back on her forehead. Renzik closed the door behind them.

"Take a seat, both of you." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. Mathias rolled the blueprints and tucked them into a scroll case, then took Hayaji's letter and handed it to Steelspark. 

The gnome read it, her face growing grim. She looked up. "Drustvar, I take it."

Mathias nodded. "Renzik, I want you to get somebody into Anyport before we arrive. I need ears there. Find out what's being said."

Renzik nodded. "I got somebody close that can be in position within the hour."

"Do it." Mathias waved him away, and Renzik hurried out to get the plant in motion.

"The situation seems pretty dire, Shaw." Steelspark leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over her knee.

"If they have Fairwind and his crew, it is." 

She handed him the letter back and he folded it small, tucking it into a pouch on one spaulder. Her head tilted. "You think they do, though."

"Yes. The entire crew is accounted for, no use of nicknames. An offer of proof. Meeting in neutral territory." He rested his elbows on the desk. "I think it's legitimate."

"How much time do we have to prepare before you want to leave?'

Mathias sighed. "We'll want smoke grenades, and some explosives in case something goes wrong and we're seriously outnumbered."

"I'll bring my electrified daggers."

"Be ready to drop some miniaturized listening devices if there's an opportunity."

Steelspark tapped her fingers on her chin. "I can have our gear ready to go in an hour."

"Very good. Meet me at the Mage Tower in ninety minutes. We'll portal to Boralus and fly from there. No mechanical mounts. I don't want anything noisy if we have to run for it."

"Gotcha."

Mathias stood. "Dismissed."

***

Their third day of captivity was well underway. There were no portholes down in the brig; it was below the waterline of the vessel and dark as a cavern except for the lanterns outside their cell. There were always a couple of guards nearby, on the alert.

The _Arva's_ crew was being fed and watered regularly, the buckets emptied when necessary so that the stink didn't get overwhelming, and they'd been supplied with a deck of cards and an old, battered set of wooden dice. At least they'd been given something to occupy their minds beyond speculation and dread.

Billie spent most of her time glued to Thurin's side, not that he could blame the kid. Flynn could see the fury still lit behind her eyes. She wanted her revenge, but she wasn't going to get it. His little crew were well and truly outnumbered -- there had to be over a hundred pirates on this vessel. Even if they broke out of the cell, they'd be dead before they could get to the main deck. He'd given thought to a dozen potential types of escape attempt, and none of them ended well.

He lay on his bunk, staring up at the bottom of the one above him, thinking of Mathias and praying to the Tidemother that he'd see him again someday. Not that Flynn really thought the Tidemother would give a shit. Ships, she might be concerned with. One handsome, dashing Kul Tiran captain? Not a chance.

Flynn looked over when the door to the room opened. An orc entered, carrying a bucket with soup in it and a stack of bowls. From the corner of his eye, he could see Billie stiffen; it was the same orc who'd clouted Thurin in the head.

This was not good. 

She was up and had her hand through the bars before anyone else could move, and grabbed a dagger from the orc's belt. With a grunt, she stabbed him in the thigh. The orc yelped and dropped the bucket. The bowls clattered to the deck. He grabbed Billie's hand, twisting it sharply so that she dropped the dagger outside the bars.

"Monkey, no!"

"Billie!"

The entire crew bolted to their feet, making a grab for the kid and pulling her toward the back of the cell. The orc snarled and Flynn stepped between the orc on the other side of their cell bars and everyone else. "You had a deal with Hayaji," the orc snapped. "Now you'll answer for it." The orc sheathed his dagger and limped out of the room at a quick pace while the two guards scrambled to deal with the spilled bucket and the bowls. Flynn could hear shouting as the door closed behind him.

Flynn turned to his crew. "That… was a mistake," he said. Tides, he didn't want to be angry with the kid, but she had just fucked things up royally. "Monkey, you were given an order to remain calm and take no action."

She looked up at him, fear and anger warring in her eyes. "He deserved it," she spat.

Flynn nodded. "Aye, he did. But sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. This is one of those times. Right now, we all have to depend on each other so that we all stay safe. None of us can just act without discussing it with everyone else. Do you understand that?"

Before she could respond, Flynn heard retribution coming to the tune of a rumble of voices through the door. He turned to face his fate.

Hayaji entered the room, accompanied by his First Mate and a gaggle of his crew. The vulpera gestured. "Bind them all and bring them to the main deck."

"What are they doing?" Billie hissed.

"Quiet," Hayaji snapped. "I'm the only one doing the talking here." The tension in the room boiled, and Flynn's heart rattled in his chest.

His crew were dragged to their feet, hands bound behind their backs, and escorted up two levels to the main deck. Flynn squinted against the late afternoon sun. At least the weather wasn't going to make things worse. He could see the masts of the _Arva_ where she was lying alee.

The crew of the _Despair_ was gathering on the decks, hooting and jeering as Flynn's crew was assembled before the mainmast. Her captain might not be willing to kill them, but the crew would surely be entertained by what Flynn suspected was about to happen.

He was singled out and shoved to his knees in front of Hayaji while the _Arva's_ crew watched in silence. Flynn was about eye level with the vulpera from here.

"We had a deal," Hayaji said. He clasped his hands behind his back and paced as he spoke. "Your kit bit one of my crew. I understand why she did it. One of mine knocked her father around and she bared her teeth, but I can't have that. You told me you'd keep control of your crew, Fairwind, and you didn't."

"This is on me," Flynn said.

Hayaji gave him a disgusted glance. "I'm not going to punish the _kit_. I thought you knew better than that."

Flynn steeled himself. "My apologies. That wasn't what I was implying."

Hayaji nodded and gestured to a couple of his crew. "Strip him to the waist and tie him to the mainmast." There was no malice in his voice. It was all very matter of fact.

Flynn heard Billie's quiet gasp as he was dragged to his feet. His hands were unbound and his greatcoat and scarf were stripped from him and tossed aside. His shirt was pulled over his head and thrown into the pile with them. Flynn was shoved into the mast and his arms dragged around it and tied together on the other side. His feet were bound to the mast as well. He turned his head to look at Hayaji.

"Boggor, you're the injured party."

"Aye." The orc's thigh had been bandaged; he stepped forward. 

Hayaji made a gesture and was handed a vicious-looking flogger. He offered it to the orc. "Twenty lashes with the cat."

"With pleasure, Cap'n." The orc grinned, his eyes narrowed as he took the cat.

Flynn closed his eyes and sagged against the mast as Hayaji's crew cheered. He could hear bets being taken -- how many lashes before first blood, when he'd scream, if he'd pass out. This… was going to hurt. He'd tasted the damned thing before when he was younger and still bore some scars from it; the cat was made of knotted cords, designed to do as much painful damage as possible. He'd seen men die from too many blows before. Twenty wasn't many, comparatively speaking. Certainly not a fatal number, but it was more than he'd ever wanted to suffer again.

He wished that the kid hadn't been brought up with them. Tides, he didn't want her to have to see this, but from Hayaji's view it would be a guarantee she'd not try anything again.

Someone pulled Flynn's hair out of the way, and it began.

The first blow drew a grunt through Flynn's gritted teeth. It was painful, but not unbearable. The second drew blood, and the pirate crew shouted and cheered. Boggor wasn't messing around. There wasn't a single stitch of mercy in the blows, and they fell heavy on his back. Flynn knew he'd live through it, because Hayaji intended to get a price for him, but that didn't mean he'd not suffer.

Flynn was screaming by the fifth blow, unable to stop himself. Tears ran down his face as he shouted his agony to the salt air. He was barely aware by the last lash, his back torn to bloody shreds by the knotted cords. He gasped for breath, shuddering with pain, as they loosed his feet then his hands. He slumped to his knees, leaning on the mast, his hands and forehead pressed to the wood.

"We've got you, Cap'n. It's over." Siward's voice was in his ear, and he and Harmen had apparently been loosed to deal with him, as they tucked Flynn's arms over their shoulders and carried him along between them as gently as they could back down to the brig.

They laid him face down on the deck in the cell, and Billie was sobbing and holding Flynn's hand, repeating over and over that she was sorry. He looked at her through pain-bleared eyes as Thurin started cleaning the blood from Flynn's back. "I know," he said, still gasping with the agony of his wounds. "Just… d-don't do it again."

Grixx and Relly pulled her away from him and Flynn curled into his misery. He could feel Thurin piecing his back together with his fingers as he cleaned away the blood. "Sorry, lad, I've got to get things as much back in order as I can before I heal you. Fewer scars that way." Flynn just nodded and tried not to moan. He wasn't having much success with that part.

Finally, blessedly, Thurin pushed Light through him and Flynn felt the wounds healing, and the pain fading away. When Thurin was done, someone picked him up, put him into his bunk and tucked a blanket over him, and Flynn slept.

*** 

Anyport was a scruffy little smuggler's cove, filled with lowlifes and run by a goblin named Cesi Loosecannon. The place had been a Horde access point to Drustvar during the war and Mathias had no doubt it remained one even now. Despite treaties, there was no real control over places like this. He and Steelspark left their gryphons at the flight point and descended into the little settlement. The place was bustling, and Renzik's embedded source had informed them that the place to go was the Lowtide Tavern, under the broken bow of a ship.

The place was squalid, and the floor was underwater. It was apparently literally only dry at low tide. Steelspark was nearly up to her knees as they waded into the bar. There were about a dozen people drinking when they entered. The crowd looked up as they sloshed their way through, then their heads lowered again, back to their drinks.

A goblin at a table near the back kept his eyes on them. "Shaw."

Mathias and Steelspark approached, standing by the table as the goblin rose. "You have something for me,” Mathias said.

The goblin reached into his belt pouch and pulled out an envelope. "Message from the Captain," he said, handing Mathias the letter. Mathias tucked it into his belt. "And this."

The goblin held out his fist to Mathias, who offered an open palm. The goblin dropped something into it. Mathias looked at it, his heart sinking. A compass. He flipped it open and saw what was inside. 

Flynn's compass.

He flipped it shut and stuffed it in a belt pouch, his hand snapping out to grab the goblin by the throat in a fit of cold rage. The goblin yelped, flailing and kicking, and everyone in the place bolted to their feet. Steelspark grabbed his elbow. 

"Put the goblin down, Shaw." Mathias stood there, his teeth gritted, heart thundering with his fury as he tried to control his breathing. He didn't squeeze the life out of the goblin. "We could take all of them," Steelspark said, quietly, "but then we'd never get Fairwind back. You do _not_ want that. Put him down."

Mathias set the goblin back on his feet and let go, and the room relaxed slightly. 

The goblin coughed and glared up at him. "You want your matelot back, you meet me here in two weeks, exactly like the letter says. That's all I got to say to you, Alliance." The goblin spat at Mathias's feet and stormed out of the bar.

Mathias gestured back toward the flight point with his head, and he and Steelspark headed out.

As they flew back to Boralus, Mathias opened the letter the goblin had given him.

_Mathias Shaw_

_As I have demonstrated, I have Captain Fairwind and his crew. In return for the sum of one million gold, I will return all of them and Fairwind's ship to you, unharmed._

_You will meet my agent in Anyport two weeks from this date with the ransom, carried aboard a trading ship. You will not bring any military escort. You will come alone aside from the trader's crew. My agent will board your ship with you and take you to our rendezvous point, where the gold will be exchanged for your matelot and his ship._

_You will then allow us to depart, unpursued, or we will fire upon you and destroy both vessels._

_Captain Hayaji of the Despair_

A million gold. Stormwind didn't have that much just lying around in its treasury. The request was pure insanity. Unfortunately, the pirate wasn't just insane, he was smart. There was no indication of where the exchange was to take place, and there would be little opportunity to inform anyone with Hayaji's agent aboard. They could be anywhere, and Mathias couldn't search the seas in two weeks' time to find one single vessel.

Mathias faced an impossible request, sick with fury and a hopeless sense of foreboding.

The lack of an alternative to the payment of the ransom left a hollow in his chest. If he couldn't respond -- if he didn't respond -- would Flynn and his crew be murdered? Sold into slavery somewhere? Marooned far from the sea lanes and left to die unless they could be found? It was maddening. He couldn't face the sheer enormity of it, and let himself slip into ice. He had to be Spymaster Shaw, not Mathias, Flynn's matelot. His heart couldn't lead on this, only his expertise with strategy and intelligence.

When they arrived in Boralus, Steelspark asked, "What did they say?"

Mathias said nothing, stalking to the portal room with the gnome at his heels. Once they arrived back in Stormwind, he said, "That's all, Steelspark. I need time to think. I may call upon you again soon."

He took himself back to SI:7 and paced his office restlessly for hours. Renzik poked his nose in a couple of times, but Mathias knew the expression on his face invited no comments. He was left strictly alone.

By late that night, he'd started to form a tentative plan.

***

"Fairwind," one of the trolls said, calling him to the door of the cell. Flynn stood with a resigned sigh and went to him. Billie made a small, frightened sound and when Flynn turned to look, she'd buried her face in Thurin's chest.

"I'll be fine, Monkey," he told her. "I'll be back soon, I'm sure."

Flynn followed the troll. "Dat kid, she be scared."

"Yeah. Not exactly my fault. Where are you taking me?" He followed the troll up toward the main deck.

"Da Captain want to speak to ya."

Flynn had nothing better to do than cooperate, so he followed along until he was escorted through the door and left with the vulpera. "Have a seat, Fairwind," Hayaji said. Flynn slouched into the chair Hayaji pointed to. He waited.

Hayaji offered Flynn a drink, wordlessly tilting a bottle at him. Flynn nodded, and the vulpera poured for both of them, handing Flynn a glass. "I got word that the ransom demand was received today."

"Do I want to know what you asked for?" He braced himself for a horrifying answer.

"A million gold," Hayaji said.

Flynn groaned. "Neptulon's left nut, man, just maroon us now and save everyone the trouble. You know he can't get that kind of money. He won't."

"I think you'd be wrong. Delzex said he and the gnome who was with him looked pretty upset. I think he misses you. Wants you back."

Flynn swallowed half the glass and shrugged. It was strong but he barely felt it. "You don't get it. He _can't._ It… it can't be personal for him. It's always about the Alliance. That comes first, not me." And didn't that just kill Flynn, because he'd always known he couldn't come first for Mathias, ever. "It's been the man's entire life and he's not going to throw it over for my sake, no matter how he feels. But I can pretty much guarantee that he _will_ come after you. He'll kill you if he can, because it'll be the only thing you've left for him to do."

"We'll see. I have more faith in him here than you do, it seems."

Flynn shook his head and took another slug of the booze. "And what in the abyss has Spymaster Mathias Shaw ever done that would convince you he'd break every code he's lived by for the ex-pirate that keeps his bed warm, hmm?"

"That entire life of his that you mentioned, really. What, suddenly, out of nowhere, he takes up with you publicly and it's meaningless? A man that's never had a connection to another person, at least so far as anyone can tell? You can't tell me that doesn't mean something." Hayaji pulled something out of a drawer in his desk and set it in front of Flynn. "There's also this."

It was the S.E.L.F.I.E. from Flynn's cabin, the one he'd clipped from _Stormwind This Week_. The look on Mathias's face said everything. Flynn's blood froze and he swallowed harshly, hoping his voice was steady when he spoke.

"Doesn't mean I'd be worth anything close to what you want, even with the entire crew and the ship thrown in. Ten thousand - that would have been a sane request, and most of that for the ship itself."

Hayaji laughed. "Apu'jin was telling me about that job you did for Madam Goya a few months ago -- some box of tea worth ten million gold? Tell me again that he'd not have access to it. He could get a loan from her, if nothing else."

Flynn huffed like he'd been punched. "Oh, mate, you have got entirely the wrong end of that one. I walked away from that with six thousand gold that mostly got split with the crew, some salvage, and the dive gear. I got screwed on that job. She's not gonna loan Mathias a million gold on my behalf."

"Let's just say I believe a man in his position has resources, and that he thinks you're valuable enough to use them. I don't care where he gets it as long as he coughs it up." Hayaji drank from his glass and set it on his desk.

Flynn shook his head and finished his drink. "Hayaji, mate, you're delusional. I'm saying this as one pirate captain to another. You've picked the wrong battle here. I can sympathize with your wanting to get out of the game, truly. I did it myself some years back and I don't regret it. But this is the wrong way to go about it."

"It's not your call Fairwind. You're my retirement fund. Just you wait -- Shaw will show." He got up and went to his door, opening it. "Take Fairwind back to his crew," he said.

The troll who'd brought Flynn up took him back down to the cell and shoved him in. When the door was locked behind him, Billie got up and threw herself at him, wrapping herself around his hips, that being about as high as she could reasonably reach. "Are you okay, Captain?" Her voice was tight with worry.

He patted her head. "I'm fine, Monkey. The captain just wanted to talk to me." He made his way back over to the wall where half the crew was sitting, which was a bit awkward with a nine year old clinging to him for dear life.

"What did he want?" Sparks asked.

Flynn sat and let Billie wrap herself around his waist. He tucked an arm over her shoulder. "The ransom demand's been delivered. The lunatic's asking for a million gold."

The statement was met with stunned silence and then sputtered insistence from the entire crew that the vulpera was, in fact, insane. "He'll never pay that," Bess said.

"That's what I told him, but he doesn't believe me." Flynn shrugged. "I'm not going to change his mind so, as I said, mates, get yourselves prepared for a long stay on a cold rock somewhere. I just hope it'll have some fresh water and a food source."

"Doesn't seem the type to maroon us in a place where we'll just die," Yun said.

Flynn nodded. "As pirates go, he's not actually a bad sort. Probably would have been friends if I'd met him when I was doing it myself. You could say we had a similar philosophy. I'm not entirely mad, though."

"Debatable," Sonya said.

He snorted at her. "Not as mad as he is, at least."

"But he hurt you," Billie said. "It was my fault."

Flynn sighed and let his head fall back, thumping against the bulkhead. "Monkey. Listen to me." He looked down at her. "I understand why you did it. I'm not _angry_ with you. But you need to understand that a ship has a captain for a reason. When everything goes to shit, somebody has to be in charge, and the captain is that person. It's so everyone in the crew knows exactly what they have to do when a decision has to be made, because at sea things can go bad in just a second, and people can die." She buried her face in his chest. "If there's one voice in charge, one voice that everyone listens to, then the entire crew has a better chance of going home again at the end of the voyage. On the _Arva_ , I'm that voice. Everyone has to listen to me, because I'm the one with the most experience. Even when it's hard, you have to listen. You have to do what I tell you when I give an order because I'm trying to keep _all of us_ alive, okay?"

Billie nodded, sniffling. "I wasn't hurt that bad," Flynn continued, "and Thurin patched me right up. I'm fine now, I just have a couple new scars, is all. I know it was scary, but it's over. Now the only thing we can do is wait. And it's going to be boring and it might get scary again, but we'll get through this, because we're all in it together. If we all help each other, we'll all be okay in the end."

It was a little more optimistic than Flynn felt, but the kid needed some optimism. She nodded again. "Okay, Captain."

He gave her a squeeze. "Go hang on your dad, okay?'

"Okay." She got up and went to Thurin and Flynn got up to go lie in his bunk.


	3. And I Will Tell You Mine

The next day, Mathias felt his plan was solidified enough to take it to Anduin, but the specifics of it… he would have to ask for things he had absolutely no right to request, and it galled him. In getting himself ready, he paid extra attention to his appearance. Armor polished, hair and shave perfect, his heart as steady as he could make it, though it thundered in him painfully as a storm. If he had to grovel, he didn't want to look like the wreck he felt inside.

He had everything with him in a scroll case under one arm. When he got to the Keep he went directly to Anduin's private chambers. It was early and he'd not likely be busy with meetings just yet. More likely, he'd be having breakfast. Mathias bypassed everyone but the guards in the corridor, but no one was going to stop the Alliance's Spymaster. He'd schooled his face into 'urgent business' and those who saw him let him pass without question. He knocked.

"Come," Anduin said, his voice a bit muzzy. He was probably still having his morning coffee. Mathias entered. Anduin was dressed for the day and, as predicted, had a coffee mug in hand. His eyes widened. "What's happened?" The question wasn't unexpected; Mathias would never have come like this if it weren't an emergency.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you at this hour, Anduin." Mathias used his name as a sign that this was personal, not a matter of state. Anduin's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Would you like some coffee?"

Mathias shook his head. "No, but thank you." He clutched Flynn's compass in one fist, focusing on that to get him through the whole thing. "I have… a problem."

Anduin's confusion shifted to concern. "Tell me."

With a sigh, Mathias pulled the two letters from Hayaji from the scroll case and handed them to Anduin. The King took them, still uncertain, and read them. His eyes widened. As he read further, his mouth hardened into an angry line. Anduin looked up at him again. "Yes. It appears we do."

_We._ Mathias's eyes closed and he drew a steadying breath. Anduin was prepared to help. The only question was, how far would he go to do so? He met Anduin's steady gaze. "This cannot be allowed to stand."

"No. It can't. The idea that someone would attempt to coerce the Spymaster of the Alliance in this manner cannot go unanswered." He handed the letters back to Mathias. "But how are we going to address it? I assume you have some ideas that you need to run by me, or you'd have already taken care of it yourself and I'd likely have heard none of it."

Mathias sighed and nodded. "I do, but you'll think them madness."

"From what I've seen, love makes madmen of everyone, Mathias. It's inevitable." He gestured to the chairs by his hearth. "Please. I can't imagine what this must be doing to you." They sat together, Anduin's head tilted attentively as he sipped his coffee. "Those letters bear a demand, but what's the unspoken threat for noncompliance? What do you know about this Hayaji and what he's likely to do? You're certain he has Flynn?"

Mathias squeezed the compass again, then held it out toward Anduin. "This is his compass." He flipped it open and showed Anduin the little knotted grass heart inside. "It can't be anyone else's."

Anduin nodded, his eyes darkening with anger. "I see."

Mathias closed the compass and tucked it into a pouch, safe. "Hayaji is a very successful vulpera pirate captain. Most of his activity seems to be in the sea lanes around Pandaria and Zandalar, though he's struck in other seas from time to time. Flynn's ship was taking the southern route home from Kalimdor, so I have to assume he was taken in those waters somewhere." 

Anduin nodded again. "So we have at least a vague idea of where he might be holding them."

"Possibly. He's likely aware that I'd know this, so he may have moved from the area as a precaution. Everything I've learned about him suggests he's smart. Doesn't tend to leave things to chance."

"Do you think he deliberately targeted Flynn's ship?'

Mathias shrugged. "It's certainly a possibility, and one I haven't ruled out. Our… open association has always put him at risk."

Anduin sighed and leaned back in his chair. "He'd never have been able to hide it. Our Captain Fairwind has no concept of subtlety."

Heartbroken, Mathias smiled sadly. "It's true." He took a steadying breath. "Hayaji doesn't have a record of executing his prisoners. To the best of my knowledge, he's not a sadist and doesn't torture them for fun, like the Irontide. This won't rule out selling his victims into slavery, or marooning them if he doesn't get what he wants. If Flynn and his crew are marooned--"

"It could take months, or years, to find them."

"Yes."

"On the other hand, they're not going to be killed outright."

"No, but if they're sold, there's no telling their fate, and it's unlikely any of them will be sold together. The entire crew will be scattered to the winds. We'll end up having to track them down one by one and, again--"

"Months or years."

"We both know Flynn wouldn't rest until every last one of them was recovered." Mathias sighed.

Anduin nodded. "He's a good man."

"He is," Mathias murmured. "A far better man than me."

"Don't say that about yourself, Mathias. I don't think you're a terribly good judge of your own character."

Anduin was allowed to think what he wanted; Mathias knew his own heart. "This is the part that sounds like madness." Anduin gestured for Mathias to continue. "Ultimately," he said, "I think the _safest_ way to regain them is to consider actually paying the ransom." Anduin's eyebrows shot up. "And then recovering it. Because allowing anyone to do this, even once, will destroy Flynn and it will destroy me. He'd be a target any time he left the flat. I'd be entirely defanged as any sort of threat, which would destabilize the Alliance's intelligence-gathering and covert operations ability. A message _must_ be driven home that no one is allowed to touch him without the direst of consequences."

"A million gold."

Mathias took a deep breath. "A million gold. I'm reasonably well-off, but I couldn't be expected to find that much in a lifetime."

He could see understanding dawn in Anduin's eyes. "You want access to the treasury."

" _Temporary_ access. If my plan works, every gold piece will be returned."

"You're right, Mathias, you are mad. For one thing, Stormwind doesn't have that much gold just lying around. Even if I agreed to this, we'd have to get some of it from elsewhere."

"Jaina has a vested interest in keeping Flynn in one piece," Mathias said.

"You want to raid the Kul Tiran treasury, as well." Anduin sounded skeptical, but Mathias couldn't blame him in the least.

"At least let me tell you what I'm thinking, before you reject the idea out of hand. You know I can't just go ask some goblin trade baron for a short-term loan." He waited while Anduin turned the idea over in his head. Mathias had never expected him to simply agree, but he hoped at least to be able to present his arguments, to offer his strategies. "You must realize that a strike at Flynn is a strike at me. And, like it or not, a strike at me is a strike at the Alliance. This has always been one of the reasons I'd avoided emotional entanglements before. I knew the absolute gravity of the potential costs and, unlike you, I don't have a dynasty to maintain. If my solitude was the price of the Alliance's security, it was one I was willing to pay. I-I'm not willing to pay it anymore. There has to be another way."

He wasn't. Being with Flynn had shattered his armor, showed him that he actually _had_ a life, and he didn't want to lose either Flynn or the glimpse of genuine happiness he'd been given. He wanted the man back, and he'd get him, one way or another. If this didn't work, he'd try something riskier.

Anduin rubbed one palm over his face, then looked back up at Mathias. "He's one man, Mathias. It's one ship. And no matter how much you love him -- no matter how much I like him -- we can't prioritize one man, or one ship above the security of the Alliance itself. But I may as well hear you out. There might be other options, but I'm sure you've thought of all the reasons why what you're going to present to me is the best of them. I need to know what we're up against before I make a final decision."

Mathias nodded sharply and stood, taking his scroll case to the table on the other side of the room. "Hayaji's ship, the _Despair_ , is of Zandalari make. She's big. Probable crew complement of one hundred to one hundred fifty. She's not as big as a Kul Tiran warship, but close. In a toe to toe fight, a Kul Tiran Man-o-War would come out on top, but it would be a close-fought battle." Anduin followed him and watched as Mathias rolled out blueprints. "She'll be similar to these."

Anduin leafed through the blueprints, tracing bulkheads and armaments with one finger. "All right. What do we know about her crew?"

"Not much. A ship that size will have flying mounts for aerial scouting and attacks. Her cannons will likely be thirty-six pounders and have much longer range than any trader I could be expected to commission for the approach to her. Given the arms and the range, and the fact that Flynn's crew is apparently intact, I assume that he surrendered immediately rather than trying to fight or outrun her, in hope of being given quarter."

"Yes. If he was coming round to sail the lanes between Pandaria and Zandalar, the currents would have been with him, but the winds at this time of year would be unfavorable, even with a Tidesage aboard. It's unlikely he could have outrun her."

"I'd wondered," Mathias said.

"If the pirates had the wind, getting Flynn's ship turned about would have eaten precious time while the enemy was bearing down on him. I think he did the only thing he could under those circumstances."

Mathias nodded. "Here's my assessment of the situation. Hayaji's favor: a time deadline of two weeks; an unknown, closely guarded, and likely mobile location; hostages; air support; a superior knowledge of the likely waters for an encounter; apparently superior weaponry, and a much larger crew.

"My favor: access to every resource possessed by SI:7 in terms of technology and personnel -- communications, explosives, surveillance, intelligence gathering; potential assistance from the fleet should vessels be close enough and become necessary, and--" Mathias gestured to Anduin, "access to what is swiftly becoming one of the finest strategic minds on the planet." Mathias himself was more the tactician, but you needed both for a successful campaign.

"It's long odds," Anduin said, "but let's go to the War Room and have a look at the maps. You can give me the details there."

***

They talked for six hours, debating Mathias's plans and Anduin's proposed modifications to it. They tore each other's suggestions to shreds, distilling them down to their essential components to test the strength and resiliency of them. Every feint, every counter to an attack, every angle of approach had to be flayed open and laid bare.

Mathias ruthlessly excised every shred of emotion from his arguments. The plan had to be dealt with as the recovery of an important Alliance resource, not a desperate attempt to rescue the man he loved, regardless of the risk of bringing the entire Alliance down around him. It had to be clean, surgical, and certain or it couldn't be done at all. If Anduin rejected the plan, Mathias would be resigned to destroying Hayaji after the fact then searching the world's slave markets for his matelot, and hoping that if Flynn and his crew were marooned, it would be near enough to a sea lane that there was a chance they'd be found by a passing ship.

Finally, blessedly, Anduin looked up at him from where he leaned on the map table. "This is insane, but I think it could work."

Mathias's tight shoulders relaxed. "Enough to trust me with the treasury?"

Anduin nodded slowly. "We'll still have to convince Jaina."

"I know," he said. "I suspect you'll be better at that than I would."

"You're probably right. This might take a day or two. You should set the rest of it in motion while I work on her." 

There was still so much risk, but the tension in Mathias's chest eased a little for the first time since he'd received the initial letter. "Thank you."

"We'll do everything we can to get him back."

Mathias bowed to him. "I'll let you get on with your day."

"Good luck, Mathias."

"I'll talk to you soon, Anduin, and let you know how it's progressing." Mathias took the documents he'd brought, rolled them up, and stowed them again as he departed.

He ate something before he made his way to SI:7. He barely tasted the food, too distracted by the list in his head of things he needed to do. Renzik greeted him as he entered the building.

"Where were ya this morning, Shaw? You didn't tell me you'd be late."

"At the Keep. Urgent business. Get Steelspark and Keeshan, then meet me in my office." He ascended the stairs and got himself settled. He had the daily reports, and more than enough paperwork to keep him occupied while his two field agents were being recalled to Stormwind. They'd probably arrive by early evening.

Since the two had bonded during the war over what appeared to be a mutual interest in blades and bombs, Keeshan had steadied and become less of a loner. It was an improvement. He'd always been effective, but he'd had a tendency to disregard orders if he felt going it alone would produce better results. Mathias couldn't deny that it had occasionally worked out that way, but a loose cannon was always going to be problematic. He should know, he had one of his own.

He sent Lord Romano over with the daily brief for the King. Mathias had been at the Keep too long that day already, and he had too much to organize to interrupt it for the briefing. Having Romano do it would assuage the man's ego at least a bit after Mathias had given him a political kick in the teeth recently. He didn't like the man much, but they still had to work together and it was better to let him have a sop now and then to keep him occupied.

It was getting on toward dusk when Renzik arrived with Steelspark and Keeshan. "Have a seat, everyone," Mathias said. "This is going to take a while."

They all settled in front of his desk. "Renzik, Steelspark, you're already aware of the general situation. Keeshan, we'll catch you up as we go along."

"Of course, sir." He nodded and slouched back in his chair, one ankle on his knee.

"I was at the Keep today for quite some time, attempting to formulate a response to a ransom demand for Captain Fairwind and his ship, who were taken prisoner by the pirate Hayaji, of the ship _Despair_." Keeshan's eyebrow rose, but he said nothing. The other two listened without reaction.

Mathias rested his elbows on his desk, fingers interlaced on the surface before him. "I have the King's approval to attempt an exchange, with the payment and then the retrieval of the demanded ransom gold."

Renzik, shocked, said, "You _what?_ You can't pay these guys."

"I know," Mathias said. "If the plan works, they won't have the gold for more than an hour, and we'll have destroyed their ability to repeat their little performance and sent a message to everyone else that Fairwind's not to be touched."

"What do you need from us?" Steelspark said.

"I need to know what you have in the way of underwater surveillance technology, to start."

Steelspark brightened. "Oh, you're in luck! I have some experimental S.Q.U.I.D. ready to go. I can get visuals, though I still haven't been able to figure a way to rig audio surveillance with them."

Mathias blinked. "S.Q.U.I.D.?" he asked.

"Slick Quick Underwater Intelligence Drones," Steelspark said, a grin on her face. "They're tentacular! They'll travel about as fast as our SharkMail bots, so they'll be damned near the fastest things in the sea, undeterred by wind and weather. What do you need surveilled?"

Mathias nodded. "That sounds useful. I need to see if we can find out where the _Despair_ is holding Captain Fairwind and his crew. I need to know if it's possible to have Seventh Fleet or Kul Tiran warships nearby to assist if something goes wrong. We may not be able to arrange this, though, as the pirates will have aerial surveillance to warn them of any approach by sea. I don't want to give them any incentive to harm the hostages."

"How much time do we have?" Steelspark asked.

"Thirteen days before I have to meet with the contact, at the moment. How many units do you have right now?"

She held up a hand. "Six, but I can get another five together within the week and get them circulating. If we have some search parameters, we might be able to find the ship."

Mathias nodded. "Excellent. I'll want those in the water as soon as they're ready and I'll give you some of our postulated positions to start our search. We have a general knowledge of the _Despair's_ main areas of operation, but it's likely they've moved out of their territory to keep us off balance for the exchange."

"What else do you need?" Keeshan asked.

"Explosives," Mathias said. "A lot of them." Keeshan and Steelspark exchanged a heated look, and it was more than he ever wanted to know about what was going on between the two of them. While he wished them well, he had no desire whatsoever to contemplate the logistics of gnome/human relations in that light. "I understand that you and Steelspark have been coordinating very well as an integrated team, and I'd like you both to work on that aspect of this for me."

He turned his attention back to Steelspark. "Is the Enlarged Miniature Submarine in good order?" She nodded.

"Hmm," Renzik said. "Explosives. I'm likin' the shape of this plan."

"I'm glad I have you on board, then, Renzik."

"Tell us more, Shaw," the goblin said.

Knowing he had Renzik's support now, Mathias nodded and started in on the details of his plan.

***

Flynn had managed to talk Hayaji into letting his crew have their instruments back. Music wasn't going to do anyone any harm and, frankly, it would help his crew's morale immensely. It had the added bonus effect of keeping their guards happy, as well. Flynn didn't know many sailors who didn't enjoy a good tune while they were at sea. It smoothed their relationship with their captors a bit, and that would never be a bad thing. Sympathetic captors tended to treat you better, just on general principle.

None of the _Arva's_ crew were in much of a mood for a happy song, so they were playing a growler. Since Flynn was neither captain nor crew on this ship, it was likely safe enough to sing one. _Leave Her, Johnny_ was the sort of thing you sang when you had a grievance and you couldn't take it to the ship's officers, a 'fuck you' to the brass. Most unhappy crews would save them for the last few days of a voyage, when there was less time for retaliation from an offended captain or his mates.

Relly's fiddle played it plaintive, and Grixx's flute soared high above on a descant. Thurin's squeezebox carried the drone for it. Flynn leaned his head back against the bulkhead, eyes closed, and led the song. _Oh the times is hard and the wages low,_ he sang.

_Leave her, Johnny, leave her!_ his crew responded

_The grub was bad and the gales did blow,_ he complained, though it wasn't quite so awful as all that.

_And it's time for us to leave her!_

His entire crew joined for the chorus.

_Leave her, Johnny, leave her!_  
_Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!_  
_For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow,_  
_And it's time for us to leave her._

Their guards watched as they sang, humming along, not quite daring to join in on the complaining lyrics that advised jumping ship at the next port. Tides knew, he wanted off this damned tub.

Flynn and the crew sang half a dozen shanties or so, until they were in a little better mood. The guards had joined in with the chorus on some of the snappier ones, and it left everyone feeling lighter.

There was little or nothing for his people to do. Cards, dice, and music were the only things given to them, and Flynn himself was the only one who'd been allowed out of the cell since he'd been flogged. That had only been for a couple of conversations with Hayaji or his First Mate.

After they ate their dinner that night, the First Mate, Apu'jin, came and pulled Flynn out of the cage to take him topside. "I hear ya been singin' dem growlers, Fairwind. You tryin' to incite de crew to a mutiny?"

Flynn snorted a laugh. "None of them joined in, Apu'jin. You've got nothing to worry about. My crew and I, we're just prisoners here. I think we've got a right to complain about that bit, at least." He leaned on the railing, staring out at the moons, hanging low in the sky. The _Arva_ still lay nearby, and he ached to be back on her deck, to have his freedom. "We've been in that cage for over a week. Don't you think we should at least be let out to see the sun once in a while? Give us a break. It's not like we've anywhere to go, and you outnumber us at least ten to one."

The crew was over a hundred strong; he'd seen vulpera, goblins and trolls, orcs, pandaren, hozen, humans, and even a few saurok. He chanced a glance up at the other decks and saw a few wyverns, an albatross, and a couple of brightly colored riding parrots all snoozing in the darkness. He'd been right that a ship this size would have flying mounts, though he'd not expected quite so many.

"I can talk to Hayaji," Apu'jin said, leaning on the railing beside him. "Ya crew been reasonable since we had to flog ya."

Flynn's shoulders tightened. "Don't remind me."

The troll laughed. "Ya took it well, and ya crew be a loyal one. Ya seem like a good captain."

"Hmm. I like to think so. Made my share of mistakes over the years, though." He shrugged.

"Dat Irontide, Sweete -- I heard he used to be one o' yours."

Flynn sighed sadly and nodded. "I haven't always been the best judge of character. In my defense, I was a lot younger then, and a lot more of an idiot than I am now. Thank the Tides that bastard's dead."

Apu'jin laughed again and shook her head. "We all got regrets, ya know."

He looked up at her, still a bit disconcerted about her druid form. "That why you and Hayaji are looking to get out?"

"Piracy's a game for de young," she said, "and we neither of us so young anymore. Ya don't see many old pirates."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You don't."

"Come on," Apu'jin said. "Time to go below again. I'll talk to Hayaji about gettin' ya folks some time topside tomorrow."

Flynn nodded. "Thanks. It'll be appreciated."

She smiled. "No doubt."

***

Mathias hailed the _Middenwake_ from the dock and asked for permission to come aboard. A dwarven Hunter with an eagle on his shoulder met him at the gangplank. "Master Shaw? Come aboard, sir. I'm Mak Ironbones, the First Mate. I'll take you to the Captain."

He followed Ironbones to the Captain's cabin. The dwarf knocked on the door. "Captain, you've got official business."

The door opened and Henry Storm peered out at him. She was a young, handsome Kul Tiran woman with grey eyes and a raven black braid down her back. "Master Shaw -- come in." She gestured for Mathias to enter and he stepped through the door. The cabin was different now that it wasn't Flynn's, though he'd never spent more than a few minutes in here. "I heard the _Bold Arva_ hasn't made port yet. I was starting to get concerned. Is Flynn all right?" She gestured to a chair near her desk. Mathias sat and she joined him.

"That's why I'm here, actually." 

She leaned forward and rested one arm on her desk, worry clearly written on her face. "What's happened to him?"

Mathias steeled himself to explain it yet again. "What I'm about to tell you is absolutely confidential, Captain. It can't leave this cabin until we're at sea, do you understand?"

Her dark eyebrows went up, eyes wide with surprise. "Of course. Whatever you need, Master Shaw."

"The _Arva_ was taken by pirates about a week ago. I received a ransom demand, and I need to transport that currency, and some other items, to the rendezvous point for the exchange."

She blinked several times. "You're paying them?" Storm sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, sir. I'm just… surprised."

"It isn't what it looks like, which is why I need a captain and crew whose discretion can be trusted. Are you with me?"

"If it'll get Flynn and his crew out of the hands of the pirates, absolutely."

Mathias nodded. "Very good. We need to set sail for Stormwind on the tide tomorrow morning. We have to get there, pick up part of the ransom and our other items, then come back here for the rest of the gold. After that, we're making for Anyport in Drustvar."

"You'll tell me what we're in for, I trust." She gave him a suspicious glance.

"As soon as the crew is all aboard and we're at sea. I can't risk information about this mission getting out, or lives could be lost." Flynn's life, and those of his crew. Mathias couldn't have that. It was not an acceptable outcome.

Storm nodded. "One moment." She rose and went to the door, shouting for Ironbones. "Mak! We need to recall the crew from shore leave! We're setting sail first thing in the morning. Make sure we've got stores in, and check in with the Harbormaster's office so they know we're departing."

"Aye, aye." He could hear the dwarf scramble to carry out her orders.

Storm closed the door again. "I'll set you up a bunk in the First Mate's cabin, sir. I hope you don't mind that I'd rather not share one with you." 

"It's no trouble," Mathias said. "I don't actually take up that much space."

She looked down at him. "I'm sure you don't, sir," she said, rather pointedly not smirking.

Mathias glowered back up at her. "I'll need to gather a few things from the Harbormaster's office, but show me where I'll be bunking." He'd left a duffel with his clothes and personal effects with Cyrus Crestfall until he was certain that he'd be sailing with the _Middenwake_. It would pay to have the few days to Stormwind with the crew so that he'd know what to expect from them when the crunch came, and that he could brief them on the entire operation on the way.

"This way, sir." She led him belowdecks.

****

Mathias oversaw the loading of the reinforced iron chests, laden with gold, onto the _Middenwake_. She was berthed far from the commercial docks for security's sake. They had about three quarters of a million coming on board, and the cart that brought the gold was closely guarded. It was heavy, and when the ship had a million gold loaded on board, she was going to be lying low in the water and moving slowly, far less responsive to the helm and the Tidesage. They'd be leaving Stormwind under the cover of darkness, with Steelspark and Keeshan running below the ship in the Enlarged Miniaturized Submarine.

She'd make for Boralus, where the remainder of the gold would be loaded, directly from the private dock at the Proudmoore Academy. The portage was deep enough for the sub to stay with them as an escort, unseen. So long as the weather didn't interfere, they'd be in time to round the coast to Anyport and arrive on the day that had been dictated.

Jeremy Storm, the Captain's eldest brother, was the Boatswain and a Druid. Mathias still found the idea of human Druids a bit odd, but he wasn't going to argue as it gave them an aerial surveillance advantage. The man had a bushy white mustache and muttonchops, and was missing one eye. "I'm uneasy about running her so heavy," Jeremy said. "More work for the Tidesage, and we'll swamp easier in heavy weather."

"I know," Mathias said, as he leaned against the mainmast, arms crossed over his chest. "Believe me, I don't like any of this any more than you do."

"I reckon nobody likes this except the pirates," Jeremy grumbled, leaning on his staff.

"You'd be right." Mathias sighed and watched as the last chest was loaded and secured below on the gun deck. He didn't want to think about how miserable it was going to be, moving the small, massively heavy chests when the transfer was made to the _Despair._ He'd insist the pirates move them. They'd have a boom they could use to shift the chests on pallets, on a ship that big.

"I'll get us ready to take her out as soon as the sun's set," Henry said. She turned to her crew. "Raise the gangplank." They weren't going to allow a single unnecessary route of access to the ship while the gold was aboard.

Mathias's fingers brushed past Flynn's compass as he pulled a small gnomish communications device from his belt pouch. He clicked it on. "Steelspark, you two comfy down there?"

"Cozy as sardines in a tin," came the chipper reply. "We're good to go. All the supplies and explosives are loaded and we shouldn't have to surface for at least a week."

He was fairly sure that the air generation inside the sub had some magical component to it. Gnomes were brilliant at both magic and technology, and were prone to mixing them together when the occasion demanded. That said, he couldn't say he'd have been eager to be cooped up in that small a space for days on end. He imagined Steelspark would tolerate it just fine, it was Keeshan he had concerns about.

The voyage from Stormwind to Boralus was as smooth as could be managed in the late autumn weather. There were no delays and they approached the Proudmoore Academy dock right on schedule, arriving in late morning.

"Squallrunners on the approach," Julian Bloodfang called down from the crow's nest. "Looks like an escort."

"Thank you, Mister Bloodfang," Henry shouted up to him. She turned to Mathias. "They'll see us safe to the dock."

Mathias checked in with the sub to be sure they had enough depth to be comfortable on the approach and was assured that all was well. He hoped that the rest of the mission continued as smoothly.

Jaina Proudmoore met them there, with a gold-laden cart in tow. These chests were reinforced iron as well, though with different seals on them than the Stormwind crates, as Mathias had requested. He'd need to be able to tell them apart when he got them back. "Are you certain I can't send a couple of battlemages with you?" she asked, as the remainder of the gold was loaded. "I'm uneasy with how vulnerable you are like this."

"The _Middenwake's_ a sturdy ship despite her name, Lord Admiral," Henry said. "She'll weather it. We'll get everyone there and back safe."

Mathias shook his head. "I was instructed to bring no one but the crew. We've a Hunter and a Druid aboard, and that's going to have to do for heroics for the moment, but I appreciate your offer."

Jaina laid a hand on his shoulder. "How are you holding up, Mathias?"

"I've been better," he admitted, "but it's almost over. We'll either bring them home or we won't. They won't keep him while there's breath left in my body."

"I know you want revenge for what they've taken from you, but I'd advise as much caution as possible. I'd suggest the inside passage between Drustvar and Stormsong Valley rather than round the seaward coast if that wasn't already your plan, and I can send the Squallriders as an escort at least as far as the point at Waycrest Manor. If there are watchers from Anyport, they won't be keeping an eye there. They'll be more concerned with the actual coastal approach to the cove."

They were underway with their Squallrider escort less than two hours later, making their way around Boralus and through the channel. It was late afternoon by the time the escort banked and turned back beneath Waycrest Manor. Anyport was only an hour or so away. It was just the _Middenwake_ now, and her shadow.

The water of the cove wasn't nearly deep enough for the _Middenwake_ herself so, thankfully, they didn't have to enter without the sub. Mathias and Derren Tarley, the Tidesage, boarded the rowboat and entered the cove.

The same goblin awaited Mathias in the Lowtide, which was significantly less dry than last time, though still filled with patrons. The water was nearly to his knees today, and the goblin sat on one of the tables. When the goblin spotted him, he started howling with laughter. "Oh, I _knew_ you'd come! Hayaji is gonna _love_ this!"

"Shut up and get in the rowboat," Mathias snarled.

"What, no drink first?" the goblin asked, turning a fake-pitiful look on him. Mathias, silent, jabbed a finger in the direction of the boat. Tarley loomed behind his shoulder, glaring down at the goblin as well. "Yeah, yeah, okay. You probably can't afford to stand me a drink at this point." The goblin cackled again and sloshed his way out of the bar to the rowbot, hoisting himself over the side and plunking himself onto the wooden bench.

Mathias and Tarley followed, and took them back out to the _Middenwake_ , with Mathias fuming the entire way.

Once they were aboard the vessel, the goblin introduced himself. "I'm Delzex, your guide for this fun-filled extravaganza. Let me see your charts and I'll show you our first checkpoint."

"Checkpoint?" Henry asked.

"What, you think I'm gonna take you directly there, so you can send some kinda secret signal and have backup waiting? Screw that. Hayaji's too smart for ya. Show me the charts, sweet-cheeks."

Henry grit her teeth, her fists clenched. "You will call me Captain Storm, you pustulent little green--"

"Hey! Hey! Just bein' friendly, Captain. We got a few days ahead of us, and we reeeealy should oughta try gettin' along."

Mathias told himself that they couldn't kill him. They needed him to get to Flynn. He had to focus on that. Giving in to his annoyance was not useful. He tucked his hand into his pouch and clutched Flynn's compass in his fist. Focus.

"Hey, where am I sleepin', by the way? Hope you got a comfy bunk for me."

"Could put 'im in the brig," Ironbones muttered.

Delzex turned and glared at the dwarf. "I heard that, bub."

"In the main crew quarters," Ironbones grumbled. "With the rest of the crew. We have space for another hammock there."

"Show me the money, before we get started. I gotta be sure this ain't for nothin'."

Mathias and Henry looked at each other and sighed. "Come on," Mathias said. He had the key for the locks in his pouch.

The goblin followed him down to the gun deck, where the chests were stowed. "Here they are," he said.

"Open one," Delzex said. He pointed at a random chest. "That one."

Mathias knelt to unlock it and opened it, letting the goblin look inside. Delzex petted the gold, making a sound that bordered uncomfortably on the orgiastic, but when he tried to take one of the pieces, Mathias grabbed his wrist. "Every single one of those coins has to remain in the chest. Anything you get, your Captain will give you." He pulled the goblin's hand away and slammed the lid, locking it again.

Delzex gave him a speculative look. "Hey, I could take a few and toss a couple of lead sinkers in there for the weight. Just between you an' me, right?"

Mathias stood, giving Delzex a glacial look. "If you endanger this exchange in any way, I will personally feed you to the sharks."

Delzex shrugged. "Okay, okay. You wanna wait until you got your matelot back, I get it."

"If you're ready to show us the first checkpoint, that would be useful." Mathias gestured to the stairs. "After you."

"Yeah, okay. You got the gold, I'll show you the checkpoint. Then somebody shows me to my hammock. I got some sleep to catch up on. Hope the grub on this tub is good."

***

The goblin's checkpoints took them north around the top of the Broken Isles and then south again, far enough away from the Maelstrom to be safe, but still an annoyance. They ended up in the sea between Azsuna and Vol'dun. As Mathias had suspected, Hayaji wasn't anywhere near where the _Despair_ had taken Flynn. It was no wonder the S.Q.U.I.D. hadn't been able to find them.

The roundabout route had taken nearly a week, and the sub was going to have to surface for at least an hour. Mathias would just have to make sure he signaled when it was safe during the night, while Delzex was asleep, so that it wouldn't be spotted. That, thank the Light, wasn't actually hard to arrange. Delzex was quite thoroughly fond of his naps. This bothered exactly no one on the crew, because when Delzex was napping, nobody had to listen to him yap.

They would meet with the _Despair_ the next day. Delzex had estimated it would be late afternoon, given their speed and the weather. They'd been fairly lucky for the season, with a minimal number of squalls and storm fronts. The _Middenwake_ wouldn't have weathered heavy seas well. Mathias was glad that when this was over, they'd have two ships and could split the load on the trip back.

Around the middle watch, Mathias was finally able to signal the sub to the surface. They rose well away from the _Middenwake_. He could just see her tower under the moonlight, breaking the surface of the waves. There were no running lights on her, to keep her concealed, but he could only imagine the relief that Steelspark and Keeshan must be feeling at having a little fresh air for a change.

The next day dawned grey but calm. The weather would act in their favor, with the dark seas concealing the sub from any potential detection. They continued making their way toward the rendezvous point. As they grew closer, Jeremy transformed into his disconcerting Kul Tiran Druid flight form. Kul Tiran forms were strange and ragged to Mathias's eyes, but having some advance knowledge of what was coming would be useful. They were far from land, and the Druid wouldn't be able to travel too far from the ship without succumbing to fatigue, but any advantage would be useful.

Soon, he could see Jeremy angling back toward the _Middenwake_. The Druid landed and transformed. "I've spotted her," he said. "Big Zandalari ship with the _Bold Arva_ laying by. Four wyverns, an albatross, and two riding parrots for air support on her. Don't know if they spotted me or not. Likely, though."

"We should make contact soon, then." Mathias was uneasy. The most critical part of the operation was about to begin.

"Fifteen minutes or so, I'd guess," Jeremy said.

"All hands," Henry shouted, "make ready for contact. We have one job to do, and that's make sure the chests get to the _Despair_ and Captain Fairwind and his crew get aboard the _Bold Arva_. No one is to engage in any way with the pirate crew. Am I clear?"

"Aye aye!" sounded from the _Middenwake's_ crew.

Henry and Mathias stood on the quarterdeck, both of them gazing through spyglasses, while Delzex leaned against the railing, watching patiently. "Hayaji's gonna be one happy fox, I can tell ya that right now. And thank you for a pleasant voyage! The grub wasn't even too bad. I'll give my Captain a good report of your behavior."

Mathias desperately wanted to stuff something in the goblin's mouth. Preferably a high explosive. A few minutes later, a cry went up from the crow's nest. "Ship ahoy!"

It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flynn's growler shanty is _Leave Her, Johnny,_ performed here by Coda  
> https://seashanties.weebly.com/leave-her-johnny.html


	4. Payback Time

Flynn heard a cheer go up from the _Despair's_ crew in the afternoon, and his heart sank. Mathias, that fucking idiot, must have come with the ransom. The _Arva's_ crew all turned to him.

"He actually did it?" Sonya asked, disbelief painted on her furry face and in her voice.

Yun just covered his face with one paw, shaking his head.

"While we are delighted with the opportunity to debark," Relly said, "Grixx and I are in accord. Shaw's an idiot." 

Grixx nodded vehemently. "Yep. Idiot."

"It's been a good run with you,” Flynn said, his voice shaking. “You're a fantastic crew. I'll be sorry to leave you. I guess you'll finally get your Captaincy once we're back in Stormwind, Sonya." This was a disaster. Flynn would never be able to go to sea again.

“This isn’t how I wanted to get it,” she growled.

"He could have a plan," Sparks said, dubious.

Flynn sighed and nodded. "We'll just have to hope." Mathias was brilliant. He must have a plan, even if Flynn had no idea what it could be.

Eventually, several of the _Despair's_ crew came and bound Flynn and his crew, everyone's hands behind their backs. They were escorted to the main deck, where Mathias stood, talking to Hayaji. There was a large pile of small iron chests under the mainmast. The _Middenwake_ was tethered to the _Despair_ and more chests were being brought aboard. 

Mathias stood by as Hayaji opened every chest and checked each one in turn to be sure that there was actual gold under the top layer of gold in the chests, then locked them again. Goblins stood by a scale, weighing the chests and moving them aside when they were done, which made sense because Flynn knew nobody was going to actually attempt to count a million gold pieces, and the coins all had a standard weight. If they knew the weight of the chest, they'd know exactly how many coins each one contained.

Flynn and his crew stood in silence, watching the process. When the last chest was hoisted aboard, the _Middenwake_ was cast off and immediately began moving away. That made sense, too, considering Mathias was going to want to sail home on the _Bold Arva_ with him. Flynn's emotions warred viciously inside him and he was uncertain whether he'd rather kiss Mathias or punch him. He was drowning in a fury of indecision and anger.

Mathias looked up and their eyes locked. The man's face was an unreadable blank, his green eyes icy. Flynn could see that he'd shut down entirely to get through this. He wished he could do the same; turn off his emotions until this was all over and they were alone in the captain's cabin of the _Arva_.

He wanted to rage. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hold Mathias until everything stopped hurting for both of them. His crew huddled close around him, everyone silent and uneasy. No one wanted to say anything that would foul the exchange. Flynn wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but Mathias looked a little greyer around the temples, and exhausted. His heart ached for the man. Whatever he'd done to arrange this, it must have taken a terrifying amount of effort and coordination. It had to have cost him dearly.

Regardless of Flynn's feelings on the matter, Mathias had done this for _him_. He'd gone crawling to someone, somewhere, to get that gold, all for Flynn's sake, and that ached inside him. Flynn hated that he'd brought the man to this point, that he'd been such a Tides-damned weakness. It wasn't just humbling, it was devastating, and Flynn despaired of what Mathias must have gone through this whole time.

All Flynn had left in that moment was rage and bravado.

*** 

Mathias saw them bring Flynn and his crew up from belowdecks out of the corner of his eye, but he had to focus on the situation with Hayaji. The little vulpera was sharp as a razor and wouldn't miss a trick. He couldn't let anything show on his face, or he'd give the entire game away.

They were all bound but his flash impression was that they were unharmed and healthy, if scruffy. Razors were apparently never issued, for obvious reasons. Flynn was much furrier than usual.

When he was able to turn his attention properly to Flynn, he could see fury like thunder on the man's face, his sea-blue eyes dark and angry. Mathias understood why, and Flynn had no way of knowing that there was a plan in place. He was, in that moment, the most welcome, most beautiful sight Mathias had ever seen. His heart ached, looking at his matelot. It would all be over soon.

The _Middenwake_ was doing as she'd been instructed, and moving out of range of the _Despair's_ cannons. That left only the _Arva_ to deal with. He could tell from the way this was going that Hayaji would honor the deal. Mathias had brought him his million, and the pirate was satisfied.

When the goblins finally finished weighing the chests, one of them gave a thumbs up and said, "It's all here, Cap'n. We're good."

Hayaji nodded. "Right, then. Let's take them to the gundeck. Drop a gangplank for them to Fairwind's ship and we'll see them off." He looked Mathias in the eye. "Hope he's worth it. He must have a spectacular ass."

Mathias gritted his teeth, silent, his fists clenching, as he tried not to show anything.

Hayaji's first mate, a Zandalari Druid, grinned at him. "It be good doin' business wit' ya, Shaw."

He followed as Flynn and the crew were led below and watched as a gangplank was laid between the ships. Flynn and his people were released, and Flynn gestured to the gangway with one outstretched arm, indicating that his crew should precede him. He would no doubt insist that the Captain should be the last to leave their captivity.

He was surprised when Flynn started singing, forceful and angry, at the top of his voice.

_Leave her, Johnny, leave her!_  
_Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!_  
_For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow,_  
_And it's time for us to leave her._

The crew joined in after the first line as they boarded the _Arva_ and Mathias knew he was missing some kind of important context, because this wasn’t a celebration. All of them were singing with an absolute fury. They started through the same lines again as Flynn motioned for Mathias to board, and Flynn followed on his heels.

They finished the verse as Flynn set foot on the _Arva's_ deck and he turned, sharp, his crew with him, to face Hayaji. Flynn saluted, precise and military, and Hayaji returned the gesture.

"I'd like to say it was a pleasure," Flynn spat, "but we both know it wasn't. Thanks for ruining my life, you furry bastard."

Hayaji laughed. "I'm hurt, Fairwind. I thought my hospitality was exemplary." He tilted his head, one ear flicking. "Fair winds and following seas, Captain. There are stores in the galley enough to get you to the nearest port. I've left everything personal aboard, and what you'll need to sail her." A quick look told Mathias that all of the dive gear was still there as well, thank the Light.

"Your generosity is boundless, Hayaji. I hope never to see you again."

"You won't. Cast off, now, Fairwind, and go. You're free. Or what passes for it until somebody else grabs you."

"Cast off all lines!" Flynn snarled, and he rounded on Mathias and shouted, "What in the name of the Tidemother do you think you were doing?" He shoved a finger in Mathias's face. "How _dare_ you! You should have let him maroon us! We'd have been found eventually, you colossal _ass!_ "

The pirate crew laughed and jeered.

"Flynn."

Flynn kept right on, undaunted. "I don't know where you got that gold but _why_ in the name of anything holy or unholy would you _do_ that?" The jeering continued.

"Flynn!"

"Our lives are _over!_ I will never be able to set foot aboard a ship again and _you know that!_ You've ruined yourself, as well as me, and again -- _how dare you?_ "

Flynn was so far into his anger and grief that there was no reasoning with him, and Mathias did the only thing that he knew would shut him up. He reached out and dragged Flynn to him, kissing him furiously. Flynn flailed for a moment, and the jeers of the pirate crew turned to mocking cheers and whistles. Flynn's arms wrapped around Mathias, desperate, and the kiss went from utilitarian to devastated and needy in the space of a heartbeat. He heard the First Mate order the crew to raise the sails and get them away, but he paid no attention. They clung to each other, every moment of their separation hanging like lead weights from their bodies. Even after the kiss ended, they held on, trembling, faces buried in each other's shoulders for endless minutes, breathing each other in.

Finally, when Mathias had breath in his lungs again, he cupped Flynn's cheek in one hand, caressing his face gently with his thumb. He whispered, "Just trust me, Flynn. There's a plan. It's almost over now; we just have to get out of range."

Flynn's eyes widened. He looked over at his crew, who were busy in the rigging. Miller stood at the wheel, watching them, and Tidewalker was slowly moving them away from the hull of the _Despair_. Flynn took a deep breath, gathering himself, and nodded. He ran up to the quarterdeck with Mathias following.

The _Arva's_ sails caught the wind, and they made for where the _Middenwake_ awaited them, alert. Mathias kept a close eye on the range. There were a couple of windriders up, watching them from a safe distance above the _Despair_ , but Mathias didn't care.

Curious about Flynn's earlier action, Mathias asked, "What was going on with the song you sang when you boarded the _Arva?_

Flynn barked a bitter laugh. "We were telling Hayaji to go bugger a sea skrog. Couldn't you tell?"

"I got the feeling it was something like that, but I suppose it makes more sense if you're a sailor."

"Trust me," Flynn said. "It's the sort of song no captain wants to hear his crew singing."

Once they were finally out of range, he got out the comms device and signaled the Enlarged Miniature Submarine. "Everything in place?" he asked.

"We're good," Keeshan's voice responded. "The sub's out of range now."

"Light her up," Mathias said, with savage satisfaction in his heart.

"Yessir."

A moment later, a series of massive explosions rocked the _Despair_ , shattering her hull and toppling her masts. Debris and shrapnel flew in all directions, blowing the aerial scouts out of the sky, and Mathias heard the secondary series of explosions from the ship's munitions going off as well. Flynn and his crew stood, slack jawed, watching the pyrotechnics.

It took over a minute for the debris to stop raining into the sea. The silence after the explosions was almost painful. Mathias turned to Flynn. " _No one_ touches you. Ever," he said.

Flynn blinked and swallowed. "That… was impressive."

"We can salvage the gold and return it to the treasuries," Mathias told him. 

"How… how did that even happen?" Flynn asked, as the sub surfaced near the _Arva_.

Mathias gestured to the sub. "I have the resources of the entirety of SI:7 at my disposal, and the support of the King and the Lord Admiral at my back. The only hard part of this was talking them into letting me take the gold. That… took some work."

Flynn took Mathias's arm in one hand and squeezed. "Well," he said, "now we need to go deal with any survivors." Mathias could see the _Middenwake_ already coming about to head back for the debris field that had once been the _Despair_.

"You intend to rescue them?" Mathias asked, puzzled. "Why?"

Flynn glared at him. "I'd expect them to do the same for me. It's the law of the sea, Mathias. You rescue anyone overboard. It doesn't matter who they are or what they've done. You _never_ just let them drown. It's a fucking horrifying death. And if the only thing you can consider right now is utility, we need at least one of them alive so the story gets out." He turned to the crew. "Come about, make for the _Despair_ and we'll fish out anybody that's still alive when we get there!"

The crew responded, and Flynn turned the wheel, pointing her back to where they'd just come from. Mathias said nothing. He'd have been content to watch every last one of them die for what they'd done, in as terrible a manner possible; Mathias didn't want to listen to Flynn's argument, but he'd long known Flynn had a kinder heart than he did.

As they approached the wreck, Mathias saw the Zandalari Druid in the sky, with the little vulpera captain clinging to her. The pair were making their way, slowly and awkwardly, toward their ships. He watched as Jeremy Storm arced over his head from the _Middenwake_ , soaring easily. The Kul Tiran circled around the pair and led them down toward the deck of the _Arva_.

Mathias was on the main deck when Storm touched down and transformed. They both waited as the troll and the vulpera dropped to the deck, scorched and injured. Hayaji looked up at Mathias, rage on his furry face. "You bastard!"

"You took what was _mine_ ," Mathias snarled. " _No one_ touches him. I'll see you hang."

Storm reached down and took the arm of the exhausted troll, who had shifted back to her normal form. She was shaken and trembling, with burns down one side of her body. Mathias took Hayaji's wrist and dragged him to his feet. 

"Put them in one of the storerooms below. We don't have a brig on this vessel," Flynn called from the quarterdeck. Storm nodded, and he and Mathias took the pair below.

Pulling the few survivors out of the water took time. There weren't many, as the explosions had been fierce and the destruction nearly complete; finding them among the wreckage and floating bodies had been a challenge. No doubt many had drowned before the ships were able to get close enough to render aid. Flynn saw one of the riding parrots still alive and struggling; he made sure they rescued the bird, as well. "Always wanted one of these," he said, quiet and thoughtful, as he stroked the thing's head, trying to get it to stop panicking.

All in all, there were six survivors out of the almost one hundred fifty crew members of the _Despair_. The Captain and the First Mate stayed with the _Arva_ while the other four sailed with the _Middenwake_ , which had slightly more room belowdecks to keep them. They had more food, as well.

Once the survivors were secured, Firebeard dealt with their injuries, and Mathias ordered the salvage operations to begin. "I wish we had some time for the crew to rest," Flynn said, surveying the area. "No one's slept well. Frankly, we're all kind of a mess."

"I can have Keeshan and Steelspark deal with most of it," Mathias told him. "You're exhausted. We can go to your cabin and you can rest."

Flynn nodded, obviously overwhelmed after everything that had happened. They entered his cabin and found that, while it had been tossed for anything valuable, Flynn's clothing and other personal effects had been left. Flynn stopped at his desk, where the little S.E.L.F.I.E. from _Stormwind This Week_ lay. Flynn touched it, running a finger along the frame.

"He gave it back," Flynn murmured, hanging it back on the bulkhead. He turned to Mathias. "This… this is what gave it all away," he said. "Hayaji said that this was why he knew you'd pay." Flynn's eyes closed and he leaned against the bulkhead, propped up by one hand. "I'll be the end of you," he whispered.

"No," Mathias said, taking Flynn in his arms. "You won't. After this, you'll be untouchable. No one will come near you unless they intend to kill you anyway, and that was always a risk. No one will try to ransom you again. No one will risk what just happened here."

Flynn shuffled over and collapsed on his bunk. He looked up at Mathias. "You're probably right. After this, I'm likely to be the surest bet for a safe cargo anywhere on Azeroth. Nobody'll risk crossing you."

"As well they shouldn't." Mathias sat on the bunk at Flynn's hip, his body turned toward his lover. "When we take Kul Tiras's gold back to Jaina, we'll hand them all over for trial. I'll see every last remaining one of them hung for this."

Flynn regarded him solemnly for a moment. "No."

Mathias's brow wrinkled in confusion. "What?"

"I said no. They'll go to Stormwind, where they won't face the hangman."

"After what they did--"

" _No,_ " Flynn snapped. "I won't have it. Hayaji and his crew dealt with you honestly. Nobody in my crew was tortured or raped or murdered. We were fed regularly. We were allowed what little dignity any prisoner could possibly expect. We were not mistreated. You don't kill a man for that. I told you before, you need survivors to tell the tale."

"Their trial will tell the tale just fine, and stretching their necks will be an abject warning. They wanted _a million_ \--"

Flynn bolted to a sitting position and grabbed Mathias by the collar. "No!" he shouted. "This--" he waved his arm in the general direction of where their prisoners were being held "-- is _exactly_ what I used to do, though granted, I never had the bollocks to ask for a price like that for anyone," Flynn spat. Flynn shook him with the hand in his collar and Mathias let him.

"If you hang them, you'd have hung _me_. Yet, here I sit, a pardoned man. _You_ arranged that -- you let me off the hook for doing _precisely what Hayaji just did._ Do you think I've never killed a man for his gold? Ransomed a prisoner? _I was a pirate,_ Mathias! It's not some landlubber's romance, Tides damn it. It's blood and death and living by your wits. I know some days you think I have none, that I'm an idiot with a pretty face, but I am _not_. It's what I show to people to survive. I was a _shark_ and I had teeth. People were _afraid of me._ "

"Flynn--" There were tears in the man's eyes and Mathias wasn't sure if they were fury or hurt, but he ached for having put them there.

"I walked away because I wanted to, because I was sick of what I'd become, and I knew I'd hit the point where it was about to kill me. I put on a mask that's fooled even the Alliance's Spymaster. You can't deny that you've thought I was an idiot. It's what people needed to think so that I'd not be strung up when I wandered into town. Flynn Fairwind the harmless drunk, not Flynn Fairwind the freebooter."

Flynn's fury and his pain were as beautiful to Mathias as his laughter. It left him breathless as Flynn continued to rage.

"I will _not_ see them die. We take them to Stormwind, where they'll rot in prison for however long the judges decide, but I will _not_ let you have them strung up for this."

Mathias could see by the anger in Flynn's eyes that this was not a fight he was going to win. He sighed and nodded. His desire for revenge would have to be satisfied by the already dead, and by the thought of the few who survived languishing in the Stormwind Stockade. 

"All right," he said. "I don't want to fight with you. I might argue that you're different, but I realize that's only a matter of degree, and I'm not that delusional." He sighed. "I love you. I had no idea what would happen if I didn't come for you. For all I knew they'd sell you all into slavery, and I'd spend the rest of my life looking for some trace of where you'd been sold."

"Mathias…" Flynn's hand loosed from his collar and he leaned in and took Mathias into his arms. "Tidemother, I missed you." His body curled around Mathias's.

Mathias's eyes closed and he held Flynn with all his strength, his heart stuttering with the intensity of everything that had happened. "I was afraid I'd never see you again," he murmured. He tucked his face against Flynn's neck, the sharp, bitter scent of his sweat and his fear filling Mathias's lungs. "When that goblin handed me your compass, it felt like the end of the world."

Flynn nodded and pressed a kiss to Mathias's temple, his lips warm and his beard and moustache rough. "Hayaji said he'd maroon us if you didn't pay. I never believed you'd come. I didn't believe you _could._ I told everyone… I told them we should just be resigned to being marooned somewhere. It was going to be months, maybe years, before I saw you again, if we were ever found at all." Flynn's voice shook as he spoke. "You couldn't, Mathias. There was no way anyone was going to let you be that… that vulnerable. No one would let you endanger the Alliance for someone like me. You crazy fucker, you came for me."

"Anduin said it was madness, and he was right, but it worked." Mathias sucked at the skin of Flynn's neck, the salt and the softness of his skin a comfort. "It worked and I have you back and you're _here._ " He took a sharp, quick breath. "And I need you so damned much. I can't go back to the life I had before you. I can't go back to that… that loneliness, that solitude. _I can't._ " Mathias's fingers fisted in the leather of Flynn's coat.

Flynn's arms moved and he tugged at one spaulder. "Get these off. In fact, get your whole damned kit off. I need to feel your skin on mine, you lunatic. Everyone thinks I'm the crazy one of us, but none of them know the truth."

Letting go of Flynn was agonizing, but he was right. Mathias needed it too, that skin contact, the warmth of his beloved's body in his arms. Needed to feel that close intimacy. He unfastened his armor and dropped the pauldrons to the deck, then proceeded to strip everything off as Flynn tugged at his own clothing. Mathias watched as the man's skin was revealed, soaking up the sight and finally lying with him, their bodies tangled together all along the length of them.

It felt as though the universe had finally righted itself.

They held each other, close and soft, rocking slowly together, the hair on their bodies a gentle friction between them. Their hands and legs moved, touching everywhere, re-learning angles and curves held too long apart. Flynn's skin beneath his palms was narcotic, intoxicating. They kissed, slow and deep and passionate, and Mathias's heart ached with it. He _needed_ and Flynn's breath was harsh in his ear as they moved together, bringing each other pleasure through their mutual exhaustion.

It was slow, but it could only be slow, this reacquaintance. It wasn't a thing to be rushed, not a thing for roughness or violence. That eruption of volcanic want and erotic need would wait for a moment when they had both rested in each other's arms and found their balance again. This was rejoining their souls that had been rent asunder by events beyond their control.

This was love in all its flawed and human glory. This was something to be cherished beyond words, and Mathias would never take it for granted again.

They rolled and lay face to face on their sides, taking each other in hand and stroking, drawing gasps and quiet moans and half-formed words from each other's lips, nuzzling faces, kissing and licking and tugging at lips with teeth. Flynn's cock was dark and red in his fist, hot and hard, and he savored the feel of it, the scent of their arousal dizzying him. Flynn's tight, calloused fingers made him gasp and his hips moved, slow and rolling like the sea; Mathias let himself just feel, without thought in the swirl of emotion and sensation. Their pleasure rose, slow as the tide on a lazy summer day, and they pulled each other under, drowning in it as their release found them and left them gasping and spent, shattered and exhausted by everything that had transpired.

They clung to each other in the aftermath, breathless and trembling, and faded into sleep, their bodies knotted together in a pile of mussed sheets.

***

Hayaji looked up from where he sat on a blanket on the floor as Flynn entered the little store room. "Come to gloat, Fairwind?"

Flynn shook his head and leaned against the door, arms crossed over his chest. "No," he said quietly. "I've come to tell you that I've talked Mathias out of letting you hang."

Apu'jin turned her head to him. "How'd ya manage dat?"

"It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart," Flynn said. "He actually wanted me to let you all drown."

"But--" Apu'jin started, shocked.

"He's not a sailor. He doesn't know the ways of the sea. I'm trying to teach him."

"Dat's one cold bastard," she said.

Flynn nodded. "I reminded him that he'd got me a pardon for having done the same kind of work not too many years ago, and that we needed somebody alive to tell the tale."

"The trial and the hangings would have done that." Hayaji sighed, defeated. "I suppose I should thank you."

Flynn shrugged. "Aside from the flogging, you didn't hurt any of us. You weren't going to have us killed or sell us. You and me, we're not that different, Hayaji. I just got luckier than you."

"When news of this gets out," Hayaji said, "you'll be untouchable. No one will dare go near you. Shaw's insane."

Flynn huffed a humorless laugh. "And everyone thinks _I'm_ crazy. I swear, they see how buttoned up he is and figure he's the sane one."

"What's going to happen?" the little vulpera asked.

"We'll take you and what's left of your crew to Stormwind to stand trial. I've no idea how long they'll have you in the Stockade. But I'll speak for you at the trial. I won't see you mistreated. You were honorable to me and my crew, and I'll return the favor."

"I'm glad we'll be walkin' away wit' our lives," Apu'jin said. "You a decent man, Fairwind. Too many woulda seen us hang."

"I can't stomach hangings," Flynn said, "and I pay my debts. This kind, anyway. Consider it a retirement gift." He stood again and turned to go. "I wish you luck when you're free again."

***

The _Arva_ and the _Middenwake_ docked in the high security area of Stormwind Harbor. The little Enlarged Miniature Submarine was berthed nearby, and Kelsey Steelspark and John Keeshan had both already left. Flynn couldn't imagine spending so much time in that cramped little space, but both of them appeared to have emerged at least marginally sane. It was hard to tell, sometimes, with gnomes.

Their prisoners had been taken away by the guards, to await trial. The Kul Tiran treasury had been dropped at Proudmoore Keep along the way, and Stormwind's gold was being unloaded from both ships when Anduin came riding in on his white stallion. Mathias had told him it was named Reverence, though Flynn thought that was a weird name for a horse. He still hadn't decided on a name for his riding parrot.

The guards all saluted and Anduin waved them back to their work. He dismounted near the gangplank and boarded the _Arva._ Anduin nodded to Flynn. "It's good to see you home safe, Captain Fairwind." He held out a hand to Flynn and Flynn took it, giving it a firm but polite shake.

"I'm glad to be home, Your Majesty."

Anduin turned to Mathias. "I'm relieved your plan worked out. It was an immense risk."

"I know." He slid an arm around Flynn's waist. "Thank you for trusting me." He looked at Flynn then back at Anduin. "Thank you for helping me get him back."

Anduin moved closer to them and spoke quietly. "Mathias, you are one of the people I have come to trust most in this world. If anyone could have done this, it would be you." He glanced at Flynn. "I know what Captain Fairwind means to you. I'm glad I was able to help."

"It would have been impossible without your and Jaina's aid, Anduin."

"Genn was infuriated when he found out. He cursed for days. You're likely to be hearing about it for months."

"That's a price I'm willing to pay," Mathias said.

Flynn shook his head. "I think I might keep my head down for a while. Don't want him biting it off."

Anduin smiled. "I doubt he'd take it out on you. You're not the one who made off with the vast majority of the Alliance treasury."

Flynn took a deep breath and decided to take a chance. "Your Majesty, my crew's been through a lot recently. I was wondering if you might see your way to having someone watch the _Arva_ for us while I let them all take a week away. Normally someone has to stay aboard--"

Anduin raised a hand. "Say no more. I'll see to it. Someone will be available in the next hour or so to take the watch." He looked at Mathias. "You, too, Mathias. Go spend time with your matelot. I don't want to see you at the Keep until then."

Mathias bowed to him. "Thank you."

Anduin looked over his shoulder. "And now, I should go. If Genn catches me down here, there'll be an eruption that'll be heard all the way to the Badlands." He smiled and turned, departing the _Arva_ and mounting up again. He waved as he left, and they waved back at him.

Mathias turned to Flynn. "As soon as you're free."

"We'll head home. I want my compass back, by the way."

Mathias reached into his pouch and pulled the compass out, pressing it into Flynn's hand with a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> The lyrics Flynn references are from Lukey's Boat. The link will take you to a version by Great Big Sea  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLVQKVzK4iY


End file.
